


Into A Strange World

by Mack_the_Spoon, Namarie



Series: Bloodlines [16]
Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Babyfic, F/M, Family, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-14
Updated: 2015-12-02
Packaged: 2018-05-01 13:54:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5208320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mack_the_Spoon/pseuds/Mack_the_Spoon, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Namarie/pseuds/Namarie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the arrival of their son, Liz and Ressler realize they not only have to learn about being parents, but also about what family means in this strange world of theirs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's been a while since we've posted a story in this universe, so here's the first chapter of this part! It's a little short, but the rest should be more normal length. It's a bit of a departure from the norm also in that the first section of this first chapter is from Red's POV. It felt like we needed to know his thoughts at this crucial moment.
> 
> For new readers, this story is part of the "Bloodlines" AU, and will probably make the most sense if you read the previous stories first. You can find a complete guide (with links) to the series [here](http://namarie24.livejournal.com/120242.html).
> 
> Thanks for reading!

~~

Once the jet touched down and they got into the car, Dembe drove as fast as humanly possible. Red had been reaching out for Lizzie's mind every minute or so; as soon as they were in range, it was hard for him not to want to stay in contact constantly, aware as he was of what she was going through right now. But he could tell she was in pain, and utterly focused on her goal. He didn't want to distract her.

There was a burst of more intense pain as they got closer to the hospital she and Donald had chosen. Red gripped the armrest and again cursed the duplicity of the man who had sworn to him that he knew where James Tran was. If he had told the whole truth up front, this whole business would have taken perhaps half as long – and Red could have been at the hospital with his daughter from the start of her labor, instead of rushing to get there before it was finished.

Lizzie's pain intensified yet again, and then in a minute it had faded. Red let out a breath. The pain didn't return the way it had been before. Maybe she was done. He had missed it, in that case.

“Raymond? Is she all right?” Dembe asked from the driver's seat.

“Yes, it seems so,” he replied. He stared out the window. “But I believe we-- I missed the chance to be there for her labor.”

Dembe didn't speak again until he met Red's eyes in the rearview mirror. “Then it's a good thing we will be there soon, isn't it?”

Red managed a smile. “Yes.”

Just as they were finally within a mile of the hospital, Red happened to seek out his son-in-law's mind instead of Lizzie's, since she seemed hardly awake. Donald, on the other hand, was... He was scared. For his wife. Red clenched his fists. “Dembe, something is wrong. Please don't slow down.”

His lieutenant nodded and accelerated the car.

As they were pulling into the hospital parking lot some interminable number of minutes later (probably not much more than ten minutes, in reality), Red decided to contact Donald directly. _Donald, is she all right? What happened?_

“I'll drop you off, Raymond,” Dembe was saying right then, as Red tried to follow Donald's response at the same time. He nodded distractedly. Donald seemed to be telling him that it looked like Lizzie would be okay, though there had in fact been a problem. He sighed in relief, and got out of the car at the entrance.

The front desk quickly directed him to Elizabeth Ressler's room when he told them he was her father. And then at long last, he pushed open the door to her room and saw her. She was fast asleep, lying under the thin sheet of the hospital bed. Then his eyes traveled to the other occupant of the room – or rather occupants. Donald was seated in the chair by her bed, holding a tiny little blue bundle in his arms. He only glanced up at Red before turning his gaze back to his son, though he did say, “Come on in,” very quietly.

Red did so, and closed the door behind him. This was a moment he had longed for ever since that first conversation with Lizzie and Donald – even as he also knew the memories it evoked would be painful. Still, without hesitation he crossed the room, took off his hat and coat, laid them on the back of the other chair, and then went to look down at his newborn grandson over Donald's shoulder.

Little Charles Samuel was asleep, eyes shut tightly, and he was one of the most beautiful things Red had ever seen. Red was content, as Donald was, to simply look at him for some time. Then the new father turned halfway in his chair and met Red's gaze. “You want to hold him?”

Red blinked rapidly and nodded. “Yes, please.”

With great care, Donald stood up and transferred Charles into his grandfather's arms. The little boy seemed to weigh almost nothing, and yet Red was deeply, profoundly conscious of the weight of him as he settled him against his body. How very precious he was. “Hello there, little one,” he whispered. Words other than that were beyond him at the moment.

Donald didn't speak for a while, though Red was aware he had gone over to Lizzie's bedside. Meanwhile, Red sat down carefully, holding his breath when Charles made a faint sound of protest but then settled back into slumber. It had been so long since he'd held a sleeping newborn, and he'd never had the privilege with Elizabeth. But now here was this child, his grandson, not more than an hour old at Red's estimate – and his only living daughter and son-in-law trusted him to be a part of this moment.

Glancing up at Donald, Red asked, _How is Elizabeth?_

“She's fine now. Tired, obviously, but fine,” the man whispered. He sighed. “She, uh – they were worried she wasn't going to deliver the placenta, which would've meant she could have hemorrhaged. But they got her fixed up.”

That was a relief to hear. Red gave Donald a longer look then. He appeared exhausted, as well, but at peace. Red could remember that kind of peace. There wasn't anything quite like it in the world.

A few minutes later, Charles started to whimper and become restless. Red stood up, but even as he started to rock the newborn, he said quietly, “I'm guessing this little one is getting hungry. At the same time, I'm loath to wake his mother after her hard work.”

Ressler was already nodding and pushing the call button to bring a nurse. “She deserves as much sleep as she can get.”

The nurse arrived promptly, before Charles began to cry in earnest. She smiled and agreed with Red's assessment of the problem. “No need to wake Mom just yet,” she said. “We'll give him some formula.”

After the nurse had left, with Charles sated from his meal of formula, Donald took a turn holding him. Liz had come close to waking at her son's mild distress, but now she slept on.

The next interruption was the arrival of the birth certificate, delivered by a hospital administrator. Red was only too happy to take Charles – or Charlie, as Donald said they were going to call him – again, while the little boy's father filled out the certificate. This time, Red got to look into his grandson's bright blue eyes for a little while, before he fell asleep again.

“You know, I never really understood before,” Donald said, some minutes after he had finished filling in the names and had set the piece of paper on the table next to Lizzie's bed.

“Understood what?” They were speaking just above a whisper, since Lizzie and Charlie seemed all right with that.

When Red looked up at him this time, Donald's expression was surprisingly hard to categorize. “How you could do it. How you could give up your kid, give her to someone else to raise her.” He swallowed and looked at Charlie. “And now in some ways it's even harder for me to imagine … but at the same time, I know I'd do anything if it meant keeping Charlie safe.”

“Of course you would,” said Red after a moment. He turned his gaze to look at Lizzie. He could have followed that up with many other things – like the fact that, although he knew it had been the only safe choice for Lizzie, he still had never forgiven himself for what he'd done to her. Or that he had wondered for a time – a long time – in his life, whether he should never have had children at all. Of course he didn't regret Lizzie's existence, but he himself had never kept a child of his alive to reach even ten years of age. Sam had been the one who did that for Lizzie. But instead of saying any of that to this good man (whom Red did not doubt would be an excellent father), he just smiled briefly and told him, “Thank you.”

Once Lizzie woke up, it wasn't too long before the new mother had her first opportunity to feed her child. Red was happy to find a nurse for her, and give the little family some private time. Besides, he needed to find Dembe, as well. It was just like the man to make himself scarce instead of “intruding” - as if either Donald or Lizzie wouldn't welcome him. Their definition of family had included him for many years now.

~~  
The house was quiet, which was a rare enough thing in and of itself. Charlie, only five days old, didn't like to sleep for very long at a stretch yet, and that meant his parents didn't get much sleep, either. Not that they had expected otherwise.

Even though now would have been a perfect time to relax and close his eyes, and probably immediately drop off into slumber next to his exhausted wife, Don found himself standing next to the crib and staring down at the tiny sleeping baby inside it instead. Charlie. His son.

Don felt a familiar smile spread across his face. Even the months leading up to his birth had not fully prepared Don for what it was like to have his son here, in front of him, able to be seen and touched and held. And nothing could have prepared him for how much he already loved this little kid – even though it was going to take a while before Charlie could return that love in tangible ways. Don never got bored of holding him as he fell asleep. He didn't tire of watching Liz feed him. Hell, even the diaper changes weren't the worst thing ever. (He knew they would probably eventually become a chore, but for now it was just part of life.)

Just then, while he watched, Charlie stretched out one arm, furrowed his little brow for a second, and then sighed in his sleep. Something in his expression right then was so much like Liz that Don had trouble catching his breath. He couldn't resist reaching down and stroking his hand over Charlie's head and soft cheek. The little boy didn't wake, though he did turn his face slightly toward his father.

 _You know, if you wake him up, things are going to get less pleasant_ , Liz said from the bed, her mental voice sleepy.

“Yeah, I know,” he whispered. He still hadn't looked away from his son.

She yawned, quietly. _Come lie down, Don._ He heard the affection in her tone. _I know he's amazing, but he'll still be there when you wake up – or more likely, when he wakes us up._

After another moment, Don nodded and looked up. Liz was watching him with a smile on her lips. He stretched his own arms above his head, wincing as his spine popped, and then went to join her on the bed. She was right. There would be more moments to treasure, he could be sure.

~  
There were, in fact, many moments like that in the days and weeks that followed. As they closed in on six weeks, Charlie had started to only wake up once or twice in a night, which was a nice development. He was also now okay with getting a bottle instead of only letting Liz breastfeed during these nighttime awakenings, which was extra nice for his mother. Don pretended to grumble about it, but in reality he knew it was only fair for him to take his share of night shifts now.

It was on one of these occasions that Charlie decided to reward his father with a milestone he and Liz had been hoping to witness: his first smile. Even before he ate, Charlie had stopped crying at Don's arrival, and when Don picked him up out of the crib, he blinked, gurgled, and then smiled.

“Ohhh, you little charmer,” Don said very quietly, smiling right back at his son. He kissed him on the forehead, and told him, “You'd better not save that all for me, though, kid, or your mom will be upset. Deal?”

Charlie chose that moment to reach out a fist toward the bottle, and Don chuckled. “Yeah, all right, I get it.”

Once their baby was finished eating, burped, and back asleep, Don crawled back into bed with Liz. She sighed and opened her eyes halfway. “He okay?”

“He's fine,” he told her. “I have something to tell you, but it can wait until tomorrow.”

Liz's eyes had already shut again, but she was obviously trying not to go back to sleep until they were done talking. She frowned a little. “Really? What?”

“Don't worry about it,” he said. Then he yawned. “I'll tell you tomorrow. I promise.”

Liz was already mostly asleep, it looked like, when she murmured, “'Kay.”

The next morning (bright and early, when Charlie woke them both up with his wails), Don sat at the foot of the bed and told Liz what their kid had done for him last night, as she sat in the rocking chair with the baby in question.

“He did?” Liz looked from Don to Charlie. “He really smiled for you?”

“A real grin,” Don confirmed. “We're going to need to have our phones even more handy now, so we can take a picture when it next happens.”

She agreed, and then sighed. “I've got to say, it's a little unfair that he smiled for you when you've only just started getting up with him when he's hungry at night.”

“Well, I told him he needed to be sure to perform for his mom, too,” he assured her. “So just, you know, wait and see.”

“I'm sure he really took your advice to heart,” she said, with dry amusement.

Thankfully, his wife only had to wait until after lunch before Charlie obliged. Don was about to start the dishwasher when he heard Liz cry out. Alarmed at first, he dropped the little packet of dishwashing detergent and ran toward the living room. But then he heard her laugh. “Don! He did it! He smiled for me!”

“That's great,” he said, coming into the room. “Did you get a picture?”

“Not yet,” she said, glancing up from where she was sitting, with Charlie lying on her lap. “But maybe you could hand me my phone? He might do it again.” She beamed at their little guy, who was waving his arms at her. “You can smile for Mommy again, can't you, sweet boy?”

When she leaned down closer and made a silly face, Charlie grinned his toothless grin again. Don was there in time to snap several pictures with Liz's phone, from several different angles. He knew he was biased, but he was pretty sure his wife and son were the cutest mother and child in the world.

Liz must have caught some of that thought. She cocked an eyebrow at him, eyes bright with mischief, as Charlie grabbed onto her hand. “'Cute', are we? That's not something I'd ever thought you would be caught dead saying.”

“Uh huh, and if you notice,” Don pointed out, “I didn't actually _say_ it at all.” But he wasn't bothered that she knew he'd thought that. After all, he mused as he scrolled through the photos he'd just taken, there weren't a lot of other adjectives anyone could choose for these images. Some focused on Charlie, and a few captured both mother and child.

“Let me see,” she said. When he passed her the phone, she looked delighted. “Oh, these are perfect! I'm going to send them to Red right away.”

“I'm sure he'll agree that you two are cute.”

Laughing again, Liz said, “Of course he will.”

~


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fact that this takes place just a little over a week after Charlie's birth puts it before part of the previous chapter, timeline-wise.

It was still a little weird, when Liz thought about it, that even a week after she'd safely given birth, she hadn't yet had time to take her true form for the first time in over nine months. In some ways, she did feel the expected sensation of being trapped. After all, for that entire week, she'd done little but feed Charlie, feed Charlie again, and change his diapers (although Don helped out with that task, too), all while trying to make time to eat, sleep, and shower occasionally, too. It was enough to make anyone feel a little crazed, she was sure, much less after already having felt trapped in her own skin for some time.

But on the other hand, part of the extreme busyness of being new parents had meant she hadn't had much time to think about anything else. And it wasn't without its rewards, either – every time Charlie fell asleep on her chest, or when she watched him fall asleep in his father's arms, her heart was so full she almost couldn't stand it. She didn't even have to ask if Don felt the same. His expression in those moments said it all.

When Charlie was ten days old, however, her dragon side seemed to decide she had been ignoring it for too long. Liz had nursed Charlie and then they must have both fallen asleep on the couch. Before she knew it, her sleep-deprived mind had brought her right back to the alley in Guatemala where she'd first realized she was a murderer. Once again, she could smell the gunpowder and the smoke, and she could hear someone calling out the name Masha while sirens and shouts from the police got closer.

Then someone called her name – her real name, the one she knew herself as – and she jerked awake so suddenly and violently that she felt herself slip off the couch. It was only a last minute roll to the side that kept Charlie from hitting the ground as hard as her shoulder and side did. He woke up with a wail, and Liz tried to catch her breath and soothe him at the same time. “Sorry, baby. You're okay.”

Don (of course it had been her husband who had woken her, since she had probably been making sounds of distress in her sleep) crouched down next to them. “Are you all right, honey?”

Charlie, meanwhile, screamed all the louder, and the reality of what had just happened sunk in. She had almost dropped her son, because of a dream. Her defenseless baby, who wasn't even two weeks old yet. She swallowed. “Take Charlie.”

Still looking concerned, Don took Charlie from her arms and immediately started to rock him and hush him. Liz stood up, wincing at the bruises she could feel forming. The guilt from her dream, added to what she had almost done, was still so strong it choked her. She stumbled back a few steps, still breathing heavily.

“Liz, Charlie's fine,” Don said, over their son's continued cries.

But for a moment, it all felt like too much – and then, somehow, she felt her control over her human shape start to slip, even more than it had months ago in the safe house. “Oh my God,” she moaned, and turned and ran for the back door. She didn't even stop to push the glass door shut again, but kept going until she was far enough away from the house that she knew she wouldn't collide with it if she did transform.

Then she stopped, bent double and leaning on her thighs from the burst of exertion on too little sleep. She closed her eyes and breathed. This was not the place for a dragon to appear. Even though their house was a little off the beaten path, and they had a huge yard, it wasn't safe. Her head ached, and it came over her that it had been aching nearly constantly for several days now, a low murmur of pain behind everything. She had the strong feeling that if she could take her dragon form, the ache would vanish.

“Liz?” Don's voice, tentative, came from back toward the house.

It took her a second to realize Charlie wasn't crying anymore. He really was all right. She turned slowly, to be met by the sight of her husband standing in the still open doorway, holding their son. “I'm sorry,” she called back.

“There's nothing to be sorry about,” he told her. “Are you going to come back inside? At least humor me and put some shoes on, if you need to be outside.”

She looked down at her bare feet and shook her head. “Oh. Yeah.” She took another deep breath and walked back to the house, only now noticing the rocks and sticks that she had run over in her panicked exit. When she reached the porch, she managed a shaky smile. “Hi.”

“You okay?”

She nodded. She was certainly calmer, although her head still hurt. He stood aside and she went in, closing the door behind her. “I – thought I was going to – I thought there was about to be a dragon in our living room.”

“I gathered,” said Don. “I haven't seen your eyes change like that, without you wanting them to, for a while.”

“I'm pretty ashamed I lost control like that,” she said, all but falling into an armchair.

“You didn't lose control. Not really. Not even when you were outside.”

“I came way too close!” she retorted.

“Then let's go out to where you can transform,” Don said. “You've waited a long time.”

Liz closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair. “I guess we should.” She was almost tired enough to fall asleep again right then and there, which wasn't normally how she'd prefer to feel before flying. Still. She obviously needed it. “Yeah. Let's wait until after the next time I feed Charlie, though, just so he doesn't get hungry again while I'm unavailable.”

Liz agreed with Don's suggestion that they bring along at least one other person for security, since Don would be busy with the baby. Erin, who had officially joined Liz's organization not long after Liz's last season, was willing to oblige when Don called to ask.

“I guess you could stay home with him,” Liz said to her husband, frowning. “I'd be safe enough. But I don't think I'm ready to be so far away from him.”

“I'm not quite ready to let someone else be your only guard, either,” Don said.

“I just...” She sighed. “I don't want to scare our son.”

“Liz, Charlie still can't even see more than a foot away from his face, right? How would you scare him?”

She stared at him. “That's a good point. If you're fine with bringing him, let's do it.”

~~~~~~

Despite any lingering worries about how Charlie might react to the dragon that was his mother, Liz was still out of the car as soon as it had stopped in the private land that Red had insisted on buying for her. She couldn't wait any longer. Before anyone else had left the car, she relaxed her hold on her human form.

The change seemed to take longer than usual. Though it wasn't painful, it seemed like she was more aware of each part of her body as it shifted and grew, which was not very pleasant. But at last it was done, and Liz took a moment to stretch each of her limbs and flex her claws. She was pretty sure the only time before this that she had ever felt this much relief in changing had been her very first transformation. The headache had indeed gone, just as she had predicted to herself.

“You going to fly, or what?” Don called, from a few yards away where he and Erin stood, with Charlie in Don's arms.

She gave him a mock glare. _Nah, I've decided I don't like flying. Sorry to disappoint._ Then, before he could come up with some kind of smartass reply, she took off.

Her wings felt almost unused to the motions of flight at first, but she got her rhythm back quickly enough. First, she decided to climb above the lowest level of clouds (not that there were many clouds in the sky today). The thermals in this part of the country were just about the best she'd ever experienced, and she enjoyed the chance to wheel around without exerting much effort before diving down for the sheer pleasure and thrill of it.

Just as she got close to the tree line, she slowed her descent and pulled back up, allowing her tail and rear feet to skim one tree that stuck out above the others. She was aware that she should be tired, but the rush of being able to do this at last gave her renewed strength. Landing on a rock outcropping some miles away from where her family was, she took the opportunity to sharpen her talons. She did intend to hunt, and she wanted to be ready.

Before starting to look for prey, however, Liz found Don's mind and asked, _Everyone still doing fine there?_

Her husband informed her that Charlie was still asleep, and that he and Erin were fine. Then he reminded her that they probably didn't have more than another hour and a half before Charlie woke up and wanted to eat.

 _Yeah, I was just about to start hunting,_ she told him. _But you can always try to give me a mental shout if he wakes up early and needs me._ Don didn't seem very confident in his ability to do that, but he agreed to try if he had to. Then Liz took off again, this time not seeking to gain too much altitude as she kept her senses alert for prey.

To her surprise, she spotted movement before she'd had the chance to move more than fifty yards or so from where she had rested. It wasn't the hurried exit of frightened game, either. She got just a little closer and saw that it was a cougar – and a large one, at that. It didn't seem overly scared of her, either, though it had to have been close enough to spot her.

Liz supposed that fit with her knowledge that house cats didn't seem to share the fear of dragons that was otherwise widespread in the animal kingdom. And besides, cougars were the apex predator of their ecosystem. All this also meant that she could be competing with this creature for her more usual kind of quarry. And so, much as she might have simply admired the grace and power of the cougar in her human form, Liz made her decision. She found the best angle that wouldn't allow it to escape if it decided to, and dove for it.

Similarly to what had happened when she had taken on a bear so many years ago, the animal didn't cower, but did its (his, she thought) best to launch a counterattack. Liz saw the crouch and calculated where it would end up, and had just enough time to modify her own trajectory. Then they both struck – Liz with considerably more strength, of course. The cougar's claws barely had a chance to rake at the foreleg closest to itself before Liz had knocked it to the ground.

And she was on top of it before it could try to struggle back to its feet. As it turned out, she saw that it wouldn't have been able to, anyway – it was already dead. So she ate. Then, less hungry but not totally satisfied, she sat back on her haunches. That was when she realized she could smell something close by, something she wanted as soon as she noticed it.

She tracked the scent to its source close by, which at first looked like nothing but a pile of sticks and leaves. One swipe with her claws revealed the partially-eaten bighorn sheep underneath, however. No doubt it had been the cougar's kill. Now that she'd found it, however, at least it wouldn't go to waste.

Much more sated when she'd finished, Liz cleaned herself off as thoroughly as she could. Then she flew the short distance to the tall, flat-topped rock she'd spotted earlier that looked like a good place to sun herself. And indeed, the dark-colored stone was almost too hot to stand, and she loved it. _Don,_ she called, _I'm going to take a nap for a few minutes. But I'm done hunting, so if you need anything, just let me know._ She curled up, heard his acknowledgement, and was unconscious in less than a minute.

~~~~~~

She didn't sleep very long. It was only about a half hour later that Liz found her way back to the clearing where the others waited. Charlie, she saw immediately, was awake, but he didn't seem to be fussy yet. All of a sudden, she really wanted to know what her son would think of meeting a dragon.

 _I'm going to get closer,_ she told Don and Erin. _If Charlie seems scared and I don't seem to have noticed, tell me._

“I think we'll all be fine,” said Don. “Go ahead.”

So, carefully, Liz took a few steps closer to her family. When she was close enough, she slowly bent her head closer to Don and Charlie. Her son didn't seem to notice until she was very near indeed, and then her heart melted as he turned his face to her. His mind was full of the same feeling he always had when she was close. _He knows me,_ she whispered, so just Don could hear. _Hi, my sweet boy._

Don broke into a smile. “Nice work, Charlie. You've got good instincts, don't you, kid?”

 _And now he's starting to get hungry. I'd better head that off before his good mood goes away._ She focused on her human form, and then accepted Erin's hand to stand up. “Thanks.”

The other woman nodded. “I'm guessing you want to clean off a little before you hold your son?” She held out the container of baby wipes that they had brought.

“Yeah, that's probably a good idea.” She used a few of them on her hands and face. “Better?”

“Better,” Erin said, with a faint smile.

Charlie was starting to whimper by now, and he wriggled in his father's arms. “All right. Come here, Charlie. Let's get you some food.” She took him gently, and Don opened the car door for her.

She tried her best to stay awake – after all, it wasn't like anyone else could help her feed Charlie. But despite her efforts, Don still had to nudge her partway through the process. “Liz. Sorry, honey, but I don't think he's done yet.”

Indeed, Charlie had stopped sucking but was still clearly hungry. Liz blinked, then shifted her son to the other side so he could start up again. “Sorry about that, sweetie,” she murmured. “It's not supposed to be me who falls asleep during feedings.”

Ressler chuckled. “Given the kind of schedule we've been keeping, though, I'm surprised it hasn't happened more often.”

“True,” Liz agreed. She yawned. “Oh, before you see the scratches and freak out again: I caught a cougar this afternoon. He barely had any chance to get me, though.” She held up her right hand, where there were a few faint abrasions on the side and back.

“A cougar?” Don's eyebrows rose. “Wow.”

“He wasn't scared of me,” Liz said. “That almost made me not want to take him on. But I'm guessing he'd have been my main competition for prey if I let him stick around.”

“Right,” said Don. “So that's one for the short list of animals that aren't afraid of dragons, huh?”

“Yep,” said Liz.

“Well, I hope you can see how I'm not freaking out,” he said, giving her a look.

She snorted. “Yeah, I guess you have shown improvement.”

“Thanks,” Don said. “I try.”

When they got back to the house, Liz decided it was time to broach a subject that had been – not exactly worrying her, but it had refused to be dismissed. “Don, do you think... I mean, how are we going to handle keeping the whole dragon thing secret, with Charlie?”

He frowned. “I was pretty sure we weren't going to keep it from him at all.”

“No, right, I agree,” she said quickly. “Not only would I not feel right about that, but it would be a lot of effort that would be better spent on other things.” She sat down, still sleepy and now holding a sleeping baby. But she wanted to talk this through. “I want Charlie to be as comfortable with his dragon heritage as he can be. But I just don't know how we'll manage making sure he only talks about it with his family, or anyone in my organization.”

“Ah.” Don sat across from her. “Of course, he'll have to be able to talk before that's a big issue.”

She rolled her eyes. “Obviously. But that doesn't mean you and I can't talk about it right now, does it?”

“Yeah, I guess we should,” he said. “Do you think Leah would have any suggestions, or even Rick and Deborah?”

Liz nodded slowly. “We should ask, for sure.”

“You know, a lot of the people he'd be talking to for the first little while would be that group you just mentioned, anyway,” said Don.

“Besides your dad,” Liz pointed out.

“Hmm,” Don said.

“Unless we tell him, I guess, because otherwise he's the only family member who doesn't know,” she said. The idea didn't appeal to her at all, though she tried not to make her feelings too blatant.

Don shrugged. “That may be true, but I'm not wild about the idea, to be honest.”

“No? Me, neither,” Liz admitted. “Probably we should think about it, though.”

Her husband nodded. Then he cracked a smile. “Honey, your eyes are half-closed right now. Can I go put Charlie in his crib so you can get a nap?”

Liz yawned. “Okay. I still need to shower, too. But I guess I can do that later.” She bent her head so she could kiss the top of Charlie's, then very gently maneuvered him so Don could pick him up. “I hope he stays such a good sleeper. And, y'know, decides to sleep for more than four hours at a time soon.”

Don laughed lightly. “Yeah.” He brushed his own kiss on their little boy's soft, wispy hair. “That'd be good. But anyway, you sleep. I'll make sure he's okay.”

“Mmhmm,” Liz said, already drifting off. This time, when she dreamed, it was of flying. And there was a boy with blue eyes and dark blond hair with her – she wasn't sure how he was there in the sky with her, but somehow it didn't matter.


	3. Chapter 3

~~~~~

Leah (who had been sent the birth announcement) said she was happy to talk to Liz about this issue. “But it's a bit of a long story, and actually it's almost more my kids' story than mine. My daughter Andie lives in Nevada, and sometimes travels to Arizona for work. If it's all right with you and Don, I can call her and see if she'd have a chance to meet with you anytime soon.”

Liz was frankly curious as to how it came to be that a dragon's daughter lived so far away from her mother. But that wasn't her business, and it wasn't the point. “Uh, yeah, that sounds okay to me. I mean, I don't know how wonderful we'd be at hosting guests right now. Charlie's not sleeping through the night yet, so things are pretty hectic around here. But I'd love to meet her.”

“Believe me, Elizabeth, Andie's not going to judge new parents. She has three children of her own. She knows the drill,” Leah assured her. “I'll give her a call and see what her plans are for the next few weeks. Does that sound good?”

“Sure. Thanks, Leah,” said Liz.

“You're welcome. Take care of that family of yours – and I'm including your father,” said Leah. “I know you know this, but he tends to assume that because he's been alone most of his life, that's what he deserves.”

Liz blinked. “Yeah, I'll do that.” Despite their friendship, she realized she didn't actually know how Leah and Red had originally met. She'd have to see what Red was willing to share about that.

Don was all right with the idea of meeting Leah's daughter and hearing firsthand about what it was like growing up in the kind of environment where Charlie would be growing up. “She has to be in her mother's organization, don't you think? Even though she doesn't live in the same state?”

“Unless she joined someone else's, I guess, which would be weird,” said Liz. She had assumed that all children of dragons who weren't dragons themselves always joined their parent's organization. “But then, I don't know if a dragon's kids are expected to make any official oath to their parent, or what.”

Don nodded. “That would be another thing to ask Andie, then.”

Liz grimaced. “Yeah, because I just realized that the only other person we know whose parent is a dragon, who isn't one herself, is Colleen Kent. And I don't know about you, but if I ever see her again, I'm not going to be thinking about that kind of question at all.”

“Definitely not,” Don agreed, eyes narrowed. “We still owe her some payback.”

“I won't forget how she helped Heather Svy torture you anytime soon,” Liz said. If it weren't for the fact that she did genuinely want this life with Don and Charlie to be peaceful and safe as possible, she thought she would be willing to risk a war instigated by the violent things she wanted to do to that woman.

“Me, neither,” said Don, with feeling.

“Anyway,” said Liz, swallowing against the anger that had risen in her and purposefully returning to a more pleasant subject, “it'll be nice to have another friend to talk about all this with.”

~~~~~~

Naturally, on the day Andie had said she would be coming by a few weeks later, Charlie had been fussy all day. His thoughts hadn't much clarified what was wrong, and Liz had gotten steadily more frazzled, herself, as the day went on. Don had gone into work for just a few hours that morning, which should have been fine. He'd been taking a few hours, a few days a week, for the past two weeks. But that day, Charlie slept only about fifteen minutes during the whole time, which meant Liz got no rest and had no time to tidy the house as she'd hoped, either.

So when Don came home around lunch time, Charlie was crying for perhaps the fortieth time that day and Liz was almost to that point, too. “Maybe you can get him to take a nap,” she said, without even greeting her husband. “I've tried everything. And before you ask, no, seeing what he's thinking hasn't helped in the slightest.” She handed him the baby and ran her hands through her hair, only to discover that there was some kind of sticky substance in it that she had just smeared through the strands. “Ugh.”

“If you want to take a quick shower, I'll see what I can do about getting Charlie to sleep,” Don said.

“Thanks,” she said, and fled to the bedroom before he could change his mind. She wanted to take enough time to completely rid herself of the pent-up stress, but she knew Andie was supposed to get there in a few hours. At very least, Liz aimed to be clean, dressed, and not crying when their guest arrived. That wasn't too much to ask, was it?

When she got back downstairs, there was a blissful quiet. _He's asleep?_ she called silently to Don, then found him in the kitchen putting the last slice of bread on a second sandwich. “Oh my God, and you made food. You're an angel. Thank you.”

Don smiled. “I wouldn't go that far. But yeah, Charlie's asleep. Let's hope he tired himself out.”

“Well, then, you are some kind of miracle worker,” said Liz, kissing his cheek before she picked up the sandwich.

“I'll take it,” said Don. He followed her to the dining room table, which, Liz saw with some dismay as she sat, looked like it probably hadn't been wiped since before Charlie was born. “So. Charlie's been pretty worked up today?”

Swallowing the bite of food in her mouth, Liz sighed. “He wouldn't settle down. He just refused. I couldn't even put him down for longer than a couple minutes unless I wanted him to start crying.”

“You could have called. I would have come home,” Don said, taking a bite of his lunch.

“For what? Because I couldn't get our son to sleep?” She sighed. “I don't think he's sick. He didn't eat quite as much as he has been, but he didn't seem hungry enough to keep eating, either. I changed him. There wasn't anything actually wrong. He was just fussy.”

“I guess that happens sometimes,” said Don.

“I guess so,” said Liz. She ate the rest of her sandwich, still preoccupied. “How did you get him to go to sleep, anyway?”

“I didn't do anything special,” said her husband. “I really think he just finally had to, probably because he'd been stubbornly refusing to all morning.”

That made sense. But even though their son decided to really nap, solidly, long enough for them to get the house looking a little less like a disaster area, Liz still felt disquieted. Maybe there had been something wrong, or she had been doing something wrong. After all, she'd never had a mother – hell, she'd only even met Don's mom once. Normally, she was able to convince herself that her dad had done a fine job being a single parent, and that if she hadn't found anything lacking in her own upbringing, she had no more to worry about than any other new parent. But sometimes...

“Are you okay, Liz?”

She straightened from where she had been wiping the kitchen counter. “What do you mean? I'm fine.”

“You've just been really quiet,” he said.

“Maybe I'm just enjoying the absence of the sound of a crying baby, while it lasts,” she said, wringing out the sponge into the sink.

He huffed a laugh. “Fair enough.”

“I never even asked you how work went, did I?” she realized. “Sorry.”

Before he could fill her in (although she supposed she would have heard if anything groundbreaking had happened) Liz's phone started to ring. She rinsed her hands, dried them, and picked it up. “Hello. Oh, yes, hi, Andie. Yeah. Um, Charlie's asleep right now, so please don't ring the doorbell. We'll be ready to let you in. Great.”

When they let Leah Weston's daughter in, Liz immediately saw part of the reason explaining at least why Andie wasn't her mother's first lieutenant: she couldn't have been much over five feet tall, and she was slight of build, as well. But her friendly smile as she was invited in reminded Liz of Leah, and her eyes were the same green. “Thanks for having me, even though my mom just kind of invited me over to your house. I'm Andrea Estevez, but everyone calls me Andie. And you're Elizabeth and Don. My mom told me a little about you.”

“You can call me Liz.” She shook the woman's hand. “And I appreciate you taking the time to come.”

Don shook her hand, too. “You want anything to drink?”

“Water would be great, thanks,” said Andie.

They sat down in the living room. “How old is your son?”

“He's almost seven weeks,” said Liz.

“Well, I hope I get to meet him, but I'd be the last person to purposefully wake a newborn baby,” said Andie, smiling again. “And you two want to know about what it's like to grow up in dragon society. I take it you didn't, Liz?”

“No,” she said. “I didn't know I was a dragon until my first transformation.”

“Wow,” said Andie. “I see. And you're not eager to have your son kept in the dark the same way, then.”

Liz shook her head. “His situation is already different than mine was, thankfully, and I – we're both planning for him to know that I'm a dragon from as early as he can remember.”

“That's how it was for me,” Andie said, nodding. “And I think it's the right choice.” She smiled wistfully. “Although it's true that it wasn't easy for me to understand, as a little girl, why I couldn't tell my friends at school that dragons were real or that when my mom gave me rides, it wasn't just short piggy-back rides around the room.”

Liz couldn't help but smile at that. “Yeah. So, how did that work?”

“Not perfectly. I did have teachers call my parents a few times, telling them that my imagination was overactive and that I should learn the difference between fantasy and reality. But that kind of worked in our favor – kids tell tall tales all the time. It didn't generally cause a lot of trouble, and eventually I understood.”

“Okay. What about with your friends? Did you always keep the secret from them?” Liz knew it was her friends with whom she had most wanted to be able to talk freely, which was why most of them were now in her organization (or had already been in Red's).

“Pretty much,” said Andie. “My close friends knew my mom had some kind of risky, secret job. That's still mostly what they know.”

She and Don took that in. “If you don't mind my asking, I assumed you were part of your mom's organization. But you live so far away, I wondered if I was wrong. Or how that worked, anyway.”

Andie laughed, although Liz thought there was a trace of bitterness, or something like it, in the sound. “Well. Apart from the obvious physical reasons why I'm not one of her lieutenants, my older brother and sister already had those positions after my dad died. And they have more of a knack for it, anyway, so it was lucky for me that I never much wanted to do that. But I am part of her organization – in that a human child of a dragon joins his or her parent's organization at birth. I don't actually work for her in any real capacity, though.”

“Oh. Okay,” said Liz. These were all ideas she hadn't considered much at all, before. And now she wondered about Leah's husband, while also feeling awkward about apparently having stepped into some kind of personal family issue.

“Anyway.” Andie shook her head. “My suggestion is that you tell your son as much as you're comfortable with, and just keep reminding him that the dragon world is a secret. Hopefully, he won't give you too much cause to make people forget what he says, when he forgets what not to say.”

Don gave Liz a look. “Yeah, that would be good, if he doesn't.”

“The one time I remember my mom having to modify a few memories, it was actually one of my favorite teachers in elementary school,” Andie said. “I liked her and wanted to impress her. And so when we had an assignment to draw a picture of someone in our family doing their job, I spent a long time drawing my mom.”

Liz could guess where this was going. “But you drew her in dragon form?”

Andie raised her eyebrows and nodded. “Yep. And my teacher handed back the picture and told me she could tell I'd done my best work, but that it was supposed to be a real person doing a real job. She said I could try again. So I did what any righteously indignant, disappointed little girl would do in that position: I burst into tears and started sobbing that it really _was_ my mom, and that being a dragon _was_ her job, and that I didn't want to redo the assignment.”

Liz made a sympathetic sound. She did feel for her.

“And the worst part was that, even though she had pulled me aside to talk to me about it, because she didn't want to embarrass me, once I started crying, a bunch of other kids heard, too,” said Andie. “And you know, I'm actually not sure if my mom showed up because Ms. Wilson called her, or if she showed up because she could tell I was upset. Either way, she got there before I was even done crying, and once she'd promised me everything was going to be okay, she... well, she had to be sure she got everyone, so she actually used her voice to basically make everyone in the room freeze.”

“Whoa,” said Don, quietly. “How many people were there?”

“I don't remember, exactly,” Andie admitted. “Maybe fifteen kids, not counting me since she didn't do anything to me, plus the teacher. So my mom took care of those who did remember my outburst, including Ms. Wilson, and then made sure no one would remember her coming in. And I re-did the assignment, and I never made any mistake with the secret anywhere near as big again.”

Liz couldn't help glancing back toward the baby's room as she thought about this. She knew she could and would do something exactly like this for Charlie if she had to. But she could also easily picture how traumatic such an experience had to have been for little Andie, who had after all just been proud of her mother. “That must have been really hard on you,” she said.

“Yeah, it was... kind of a punch in the gut,” said Andie. “But Mom never chewed me out for it. She just told me she understood that it was hard to keep the secret sometimes, and that she would help me like that again if she had to – the obvious implication being that she hoped she wouldn't have to.” Then the woman smiled. “She still has that first picture I drew, framed and hanging in her study, though.”

Liz grinned. “I'm sure it's a masterpiece.”

“For a picture by an eight-year-old, it definitely is,” said Andie. “So, yeah. I told my kids that story, too, when they were old enough for keeping the secret to be an issue. I think it helped. I haven't had to ask my mother to come out here and hypnotize any of their friends or teachers yet, although there have been some close calls.”

They talked for a little while more, on lighter topics, until the sounds of confused whimpers became audible on the baby monitor. “Excuse me. I think a certain little boy is awake,” said Liz, standing.

She went and scooped him up, which was enough to quiet him for the time being. “Hi, sweetie. Come meet a new friend, okay?”

“Oh, Liz, he's adorable,” said Andie, as soon as the two of them came in. “That hair is so cute.”

“We're pretty sure the curl is thanks to Don,” said Liz. She ran a hand over his head in a mostly futile effort to smooth down where his hair was sticking up from his nap. “Sadly, I'm also guessing it's going to turn darker as he gets older.”

“You never know, though,” said Andie.

Charlie stared at his mother, eyes wide, then turned and grabbed a lock of her hair. “Ouch.” She laughed, and reached up to disentangle his little hand. “Okay, I get it: if I keep touching your hair you're going to grab mine, huh? Is that it?” His response was to stick the same hand into his mouth.

Andie chuckled. “All my kids did that – I think all kids everywhere do that – but with my youngest, I'd have sworn he was trying to scalp me. He'd use both hands and really yank.”

“Yikes,” said Liz, shaking her head. “How old are your kids?”

“Freddy is twelve, Leanna is ten, and Tony's just about to turn seven. I kind of miss when they were babies,” she said. “But it's fun to see their personalities get clearer and clearer, too.”

Before either she or Don could answer, Charlie took the moment to let out a piercing shriek and grab for Liz's hair again. “Charlie,” said Liz, again removing his now very sticky hand from her hair and moving toward her husband, “once was cute, but Daddy can take you now.”

Don obliged. “It's a little early for you to be pulling the hair of girls you like, kid.”

“Yeah, is that really a thing boys think is a good idea?” Liz asked. “I mean, I know it's a real thing, I just can't actually imagine anyone thinking it makes sense.”

Shrugging, Don shifted their son in his arms. “Hey, anybody who says elementary school-age boys have a clear grasp on logic never spent any time with one.”

Liz snorted. Then she gave him a speculative look. “Although, considering how you acted toward me when we first met, maybe they don't actually grow out of it.”

He rolled his eyes. “Right. I'm sure that's what it was.”

“Now you're just making me curious,” said Andie. “How did you guys meet?”

“At work, at the FBI, after my father turned himself in and said he'd only speak to me,” said Liz. “Of course, I didn't know much of anything about Raymond Reddington at the time.”

“Whereas I'd already been hunting him for years,” added Don.

Andie whistled. “That sounds like a killer story. And, I'm guessing, a long one. Which is too bad because I'd love to hear it, but I should be going.”

“Another time, maybe,” said Liz. “Thanks for coming, Andie, and being willing to talk about such personal things to people you'd never even met before today.”

“You're welcome, Liz. It was nice to meet you, and you, too, Don. Any time either of you ever want to talk, let me know,” said Andie. “When Charlie's a little older, Francisco and I – that's my husband – will have to have you visit.”

“That would be great,” said Liz.

“Yeah,” said Don. “Thanks.”

Once she had gone, Liz turned to her husband. “It is kind of an amazing story, isn't it?”

“Our story?” Don smiled. “Yeah, it is. In fact, it'd be unbelievable except we lived it.” Holding Charlie so that he wouldn't be crushed, he tilted his head down and kissed her.

She put her hands on his face and kissed him back. They'd had precious little time to do this since their son's arrival, and she missed it. _Thanks for living it with me,_ she told him, and felt his absolute certainty that he wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.

After about thirty seconds, they both felt Charlie start to wriggle between them and make unhappy sounds. “Okay, okay,” said Don, with a sigh. “But I wouldn't let just anyone interrupt without consequences.”

Charlie smiled beatifically up at his father and shoved his hand back into his mouth.

~~~~~~

The next time Liz went out hunting, which wasn't for another three weeks or so, she found an unpleasant surprise. As she was gaining on what she thought was a small flock of bighorn sheep, an unfamiliar scent caught her attention. And if it was what she thought it was... She broke off her pursuit and traced it to its source. When she had landed in what she was pretty sure was the same place where she had sharpened her claws the last time she'd been out here, she hissed. It was, in fact, the scent of another dragon, who had used the same rock for the same purpose. And it had to have been deliberate – there was no way another dragon wouldn't have noticed her mark and scent. This new mark was recent; she thought it must have happened in the past couple of days. _Don, Erin,_ she called, not keeping the anger out of her voice, _heads up: some other dragon has been on my land. A male, I think, and he made no effort to hide that he was trespassing._

She felt both of them immediately go on the alert. Don wanted to know if she thought she was in danger at that moment – or Charlie. _I don't think he's here right now. But I'm going to leave some clear warnings._ First, she slashed across where the intruder had scratched, thoroughly, until it was almost covered. Unfortunately, dragon claws were not really dexterous enough for her to try to write anything on the stone. And it wasn't just that she needed to convince this guy that she was here. Then she had an idea. It was blunt, but she thought it might get the message across.

So she took off again, and thankfully found the trail of the sheep again. When she had brought down the two biggest animals, she ate one right there, and then carried the second back to the rock. There, she took care to tear the creature apart as bloodily as she could, and put as much blood as possible on the marks she had made. She also left a piece of the skull under the marks, though she pushed the rest of the bones off the nearby ledge.

It took longer to get herself even close to clean after that, and then she rested for a few minutes. But despite her usual post-hunting sluggishness, Liz barely slept as she lay down. She was still too keyed up from the knowledge that someone had invaded her space and then rubbed her nose in the fact.

By the time she returned to where Erin, Don, and Charlie were, she was still fuming. She transformed, stood up and dusted herself off, then asked, “Anything from our security people? I assume you talked to them.”

“No one had anything to report, but they're all on alert now,” Don said. “And they're going to look into information about any male dragons nearby that it could be.”

Liz nodded. “I'll probably talk to Red later, too.” She accepted Erin's offer of wipes again, and then looked at her sleeping son and calmed down at least somewhat. “Depending on what everyone finds out, though, I'm going to want to come back sooner rather than later. I don't want this guy to decide that my not being here is a good reason for him to move in.”

“You want Red to come with you next time?” Don asked.

She frowned. “Maybe I'll ask him to stay close, but no, I don't think so. Unless this intruder is a lot bigger than me – and by the scent, I'd guess he isn't – I want to take care of my own territory for myself.”

“I just don't want you to get hurt,” said Don, passing her the baby so he could open her door.

“I know,” said Liz tightly. “But this isn't Red's territory. It's mine.”

“I get that,” said her husband, shutting her door and then coming around to his side. “And no one else can take care of Charlie like you, if you were to get hurt.”

“I said I know, Don,” she said, keeping her voice low for Charlie's sake. “I'll bring extra backup. And I'll let Red know what I'm doing before I do it. Does that meet with your approval?”

“You know I'm not trying to force you to do anything,” Don returned, glaring. “So, I'm not going to give you my 'approval'. I will tell you that I feel better about the idea the way you just described it.”

Liz nodded shortly.

When she called to speak to Red later that evening, he wasn't taken by surprise by her news. “Yes, I heard about your unwelcome guest. Perhaps you'll be glad to know, at least, that there are no other signs of another dragon setting up operations here.”

“Okay, so, what, he's encroaching on my territory just to poach food? I doubt that, otherwise why make it so obvious?” she said.

“You're right to treat this action with deep suspicion, Lizzie,” said her father. “And I approve of you putting your security people on alert, not that you need me to tell you that. But my professional opinion is that, whoever this trespasser is, he probably isn't planning a violent takeover.”

“Good to know,” said Liz, who hadn't really gotten that far in pondering the possibilities.

“Still, I assume your people will be watching the normal access points to your hunting grounds,” said Red.

“Yeah,” she said. “And I'm going back next week, on the off chance he's feeling bold because I haven't been there a lot recently.” She sighed. “Don wants me to ask you to be nearby when I go, too, just in case.”

“Which you're not happy about doing.”

She took a breath. “I know it makes sense.”

“Then you can also be assured that I won't interfere if I'm not needed,” he said calmly. “Which is to say, unless you call me or I sense that you're in serious danger.”

“And now you're going to come whether I specifically ask you or not, then?”

“I'll come unless you specifically tell me not to,” was his response. “But I think you would prefer having more backup than you need, rather than the possibility of not having enough. You have your family to think of.”

Liz rolled her eyes. “Fine. I'll tell you when I'm planning to go back.”

“Good,” he said. “How's Charlie doing?”

“He's great,” said Liz, just as willing to change the subject. “I thought he was getting a cold the other day, but if he was, it seems to have already cleared up. Not that I'd be too surprised, since he's started putting stuff in his mouth now.”

“He's going to have to build up his immune system somehow,” said Red, and she could hear him smile.

“Yeah, I know, but I've seen those snot-sucking things you're supposed to use to clear a baby's nasal passages, and if they freak me out, I don't want to imagine what Charlie will think.”

Red chuckled. “I expect you'll both rise to the occasion when you need to.”

About a week later, Liz went to go hunting again. This time, she and Don had made sure some of her security would be on site ahead of time. And Red and Dembe followed them there, although the two of them stopped just outside the boundary of the plot of land. Erin, Don, and Charlie were closer to the border than usual, too, just to be safe. Liz had also eaten a little bit beforehand, just so that hunger wouldn't distract her if she ran across the intruder before she'd found any prey.

Her first stop after transforming was to see how her message had been received. When she saw that the only new marks on the rock were a few, faint scratches not covering hers, she paused. What the hell was that supposed to mean? She could still smell the stranger, though, so he definitely hadn't cleared out.

She didn't have too long to wait, however. Just as she was wondering if it made sense to try to hunt now, she felt an unfamiliar mental presence. _He's here,_ she told Don, Erin, Red, and Dembe. Then she turned and craned her neck in the direction she had sensed him. Yes, there was a dark-colored shape flying above the horizon, coming closer.

It was both easy and, she thought, probably helpful to rely more on her dragon instincts than she might normally. She sat up and unfurled her wings. He was definitely coming to where she was, with purpose.

As he approached, she saw that he was a rich, deep brown color, with metallic glints. More importantly, however, he was small – he had to be several feet smaller than her in both height and wingspan. _He's got to be younger than me. By more than a couple years,_ she reported, making sure her own wings were at their full span so that the intruder couldn't fail to realize this fact, either.

When he didn't slow in his approach, Liz couldn't wait any longer. She hissed, then called out to him, _What the hell are you doing in my territory? Give me one could reason not to take you out of the sky right now!_

The brown dragon finally slowed, and started to circle above where she was. _Hey, come on,_ came his voice, _you don't have to be like that. I'm not your enemy._

 _Really?_ Liz snapped. _You invade my territory and make sure I know you're doing it, but we should be best buds?_

 _I haven't been living here, or anything,_ he said quickly. _I know it's your territory. I haven't even hunted here very much. It's just, when I realized this land belonged to a female, I was curious. I don't know that many dragons, and I definitely don't know any females._

Liz didn't relax her defensive posture. In fact, she narrowed her eyes. _If all you wanted was to meet a girl, I'm afraid you're out of luck. I'm married. But even if I wasn't, I wouldn't be interested in someone who thinks he can just casually ignore the rules of society because he's supposed to be charming._

The dragon scoffed, and then he landed several yards away from her. _That human I've seen with you is your husband?_

 _Oh, my God. Are we seriously doing this? Yes! He is._ She got to her feet, fully ready to spring at this little jerk. She was doubly displeased to hear that he'd watched her with Don. _Do you have a problem with that?_

He hesitated, perhaps hearing the threat in her tone. _I guess not. It's your life. I just... you're really beautiful, and I... never mind._

Liz sighed. Though the words were pathetic, he still sounded like he might be pitying _her_ , rather than expecting the other way around. Still, she had to give him a chance to get out of this. _If you get out right now and promise to leave me alone from now on, I'll forget this ever happened, and we can both go on with our lives._

He stared at her, then shook his head. _That's it?_

 _Yeah,_ she said, tensely. _That's it, as in this is your last chance to get out of here before I attack. I would have been within my rights to attack you on sight, but I thought I'd give you the chance to explain, at least. Now I'm regretting that choice._

 _See, but this is why you should have – I mean,_ you're _going to attack_ me? _I see that you're a little bigger than me,_ he said, sounding skeptical, _but I bet you still wish you had a husband who could take care of this kind of thing for you._

For a moment, Liz simply couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Then she growled, which was a sound that she didn't think she'd ever made before. _Let's see if you still think that in a minute,_ she said, and sprang at him.

He was totally caught off guard, and just barely managed to twist partly out of her way. But she still scored his left shoulder and part of his wing, before lifting off to gain the high 'ground'. The brown dragon wasn't so injured that he couldn't take off as well, wheeling toward her. _What the hell? I thought we weren't going to be enemies!_

 _Like I said, I don't even know why you ever thought that from the beginning,_ Liz said. He was favoring his left side, she saw. _And then you insulted me repeatedly while refusing to leave my territory, so I definitely don't know why you'd still have that idea._

 _Fine! Have it your way,_ he said, and darted toward her.

Liz dodged, meaning that the only thing his claws made contact with was her tail. It barely hurt. _Look,_ she said, once again making sure she was higher than him, _how long since your first transformation? I don't like picking on kids._ Even so, she was still angry enough that unless he took himself out of her reach, she would keep attacking until he was no longer a threat.

He hissed in response, and tried to circle around behind her, with no success. _I'm not a kid,_ he said, and at least his tone of voice wasn't petulant.

 _In dragon terms, I think you are,_ said Liz. And she swooped toward him again, this time catching the left side of his neck and his left foreleg with her talons. She cried out when he managed to land a blow near her hip as she whirled away again. But as she steadied herself and kept him in view, she saw signs that his energy was flagging.

 _What the hell is wrong with you? You don't have to be such a bitch about this! I just wanted to give – to make sure you knew there were other options than being with a human,_ he said. _I mean, if you two have kids, they won't –_

Liz growled again, and when she dove this time, she collided with him full-force and her talons raked his right wing significantly. He screamed, and his wingbeats faltered. _My kids won't – what?_ He could barely fly now, and it was easy for Liz to use her superior size to force him to the ground. _Be the shining examples of dragonkind that you are? You don't even know what you're talking about._ He tried to fight her off, but she landed with her right front talons on his throat, pinning him down. _Transform,_ she ordered. _You can't fly, anyway._ She was also partly standing on his wing, which she knew had to hurt like crazy.

 _Why should I just let you kill me?_ the dragon said, thrashing again in an attempt to escape, though he stilled quickly when she increased pressure on his neck.

 _I don't see that you have a choice,_ Liz said. _But I didn't say I'd kill you. In fact, if you transform, you just might make it out of here alive._

The brown dragon closed his eyes. _Okay._

 _Good. I'll step off you now, but don't even think about trying to run away,_ Liz said. When he assured her he wouldn't, she moved off him, though she stayed close in case he decided to make a break for it.

A second later, a skinny kid who looked like he could have been in college lay there, face pale and with several bleeding gashes on various parts of him. “Now what?” he said, not moving to get up.

Liz sighed again. _You need medical attention. Don't move. I'll get you to the border of my territory, at least._ She took off again, only now beginning to notice that she was tired and hungry. The kid lifted his head up, and his eyes widened as he watched her dive at him. _Don't move!_ she repeated. More gently this time, she scooped him up in her right claw and regained altitude.

 _I've got him,_ she announced to everyone, realizing they had probably been waiting while she was silent. _I'm bringing him to where you guys are. Maybe you should meet me a little ways away from everyone else, Erin. I don't want him anywhere near Charlie._

Erin agreed, and Liz felt her add that she would bring a few of the other members of Liz's security team, just to be safe.

_Oh, and you should probably have a first aid kit with you, too. For him, not for me._

Once she got close, she saw Erin standing next to two other members of her team. Each of them had their weapons drawn, she noted. _I'll release him before I land,_ Liz declared, making sure her captive heard this, too. And a few yards above the ground, she opened her claws, and if she took satisfaction in the other dragon's cry of alarm and then pain when he hit, she didn't think that was a problem. Then she herself landed.

Erin had already reached the man and pulled him to his feet. “Got in a little over your head, didn't you?” said the woman, with a small smile on her face. The dragon didn't speak, nor did he resist when she pulled his arms behind his back and secured them with a zip tie. One of Liz's men held his gun on him during this process, and the other broke open a small first aid kit.

 _Just keep him from bleeding to death, I think, Drew,_ said Liz, making sure everyone there could hear. _There are a few good urgent care places he can go to nearby. Maybe I'll have you drop him off at one of them._

“Hey! How am I supposed to explain what happened to me?”

 _Oh, right. Thanks for the reminder. Someone should also call the police and report this moron for trespassing on private property. Fortunately, he was also dumb enough to tangle with a wild animal that lives here, so he's probably learned his lesson. Maybe I'll decide not to press charges. Maybe._ Liz twitched her tail, wincing at the ache from where the other dragon had struck. _Or maybe not._ Part of her still wanted to finish him off.

The young dragon turned as much as her people would allow, to glare back at Liz. “You beat me. I admit it. Do you really have to bring the police into this?”

Liz narrowed her eyes again. _Yeah, I beat you. But you don't seem very sorry for being the cause of all this._

“Okay, okay. I was rude, and I shouldn't have just come right into your territory,” he said, still glaring. “I get that.”

 _Glad to hear it,_ said Liz. _What's your name, anyway?_

“Rob. Robert Davis.”

Liz flew the short distance it took to get in his face. _All right, Rob. My name is Elizabeth Keen, and if I ever see you in any part of my territory again, you won't be as lucky as you are today. Do you understand, or should I get my husband or some other man to spell it out for you?_

His face flushed, and he looked away from her gaze. “I understand.”

 _Get him out of here before I change my mind about today,_ Liz snarled. She watched him until the little group disappeared over the next hill.

At that moment, she heard a familiar sound, and her head shot up. Charlie. He was crying. _Don? I hear Charlie. What's wrong?_

Her husband quickly reassured her that they were safe. But then he added that it wasn't that their son needed to be changed, or any of the other things that Don had already tried. He was apologetic when he went on that it might be her he needed.

As soon as she reached the area where her family was, Liz changed. When she stood up, she winced and put a hand to her injured right hip. It came away with blood on it, although not very much.

“Liz! I thought you said you were okay!” Her husband rushed over and then stopped short. Charlie was in the baby carrier this time, strapped in front of Don, and he blinked his tear-filled eyes at her.

“I am okay,” she said. “It's barely bleeding at all. I'd forgotten it even happened until just now.” Charlie reached his arms toward her and started to whimper. “Hi, sweetie. Mommy's here.” She couldn't take him quite yet. Her hands were filthy.

“But it is bleeding,” said Don, frowning.

“You should see the other guy,” said Liz, with a grim smile.

“Did you get a chance to hunt?” Don wanted to know.

“No, this Rob Davis jerk showed up right away,” she told him. The kid's snide, patronizing comments still rankled.

Don nodded, and ran a hand across their son's head. “I wondered, because you still look like you want to kill something.”

Liz blinked. It was true, when she thought about it, that she was still tense enough that it was very tempting to shift right back to dragon form. She could survive on some kind of human food, of course, but then she would probably be wound up for the rest of the day. “But Charlie needs me.”

“Is he hungry right now?” Don asked.

Liz checked, although it was honestly hard to bring her mind enough out of hunting mode to focus on Charlie's. “No, I guess not. But he's upset, obviously.”

“Liz, honey, I don't think you're going to have a lot of success calming him down unless you give yourself the chance to calm down, first,” he said. Then he sighed. “Although I don't like the idea of you transforming again without even having that cut looked at before you go.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but huffed out a breath, instead. He had a point. As much as she didn't want to leave Charlie while he wanted her, she also didn't want to make things worse.

 _Lizzie,_ came Red's voice, _Donald, do you think Charlie might be persuaded to let me distract him for a while?_

“That might be a good idea,” Liz said.

“It's worth a shot,” agreed Don. “What do you think, kid? You wanna hang out with your grandpa?” Charlie was still whining, although apparently the presence of his mom was enough to keep him from dissolving into a full meltdown.

Red and Dembe walked into the clearing just as Liz was using one of the ever-useful baby wipes to clean the cut on her side. She had wiped her hands enough to at least touch Charlie, too, which he appreciated.

“Not hurt too seriously, I assume, Lizzie?” said Red.

“Don already scolded me about it,” Liz told him. “And I said I'm fine, and I am.”

Charlie looked up and noticed Red for the first time. He squealed. Red laughed. “I would have gone with 'hello', but that accomplishes the same purpose.”

Some fraction of Liz's tension eased at the sight of Don removing Charlie from the sling, and handing him to Red. She still couldn't quite believe her luck, that this was her family. “All right. You boys have fun. I shouldn't take too long.”

“Be careful,” said Don. “I know you'll be fine, but if you see any more cougars, or another predator, just humor me and stick with something safe and afraid of you, okay? Since you already fought another predator today.”

Liz kissed him lightly (at least she hadn't gotten her mouth dirty yet). She nodded. “Fine. I'm too hungry to want any extra challenge, anyway.” She took several steps away and then regained her true form. Her tail twinged again immediately, which reminded her that she would probably need to ask someone to take a look at it before they all went home.

 _By the way, Lizzie,_ Red said privately, without turning away from Charlie, _well done today._

She took off, exulting in the rush that she hoped she would never stop feeling when she flew. _Thanks._

~~~~~~

That evening, after she woke up from her post-hunt nap, she came downstairs to find her husband on the couch with Charlie in his lap. “Hey,” he said, turning as she approached. “How are you feeling?”

Liz put a hand to the bandaged scrape on her side. “It doesn't really hurt. How are you two?”

“I think Charlie's been staying awake just to see if he can,” said Don, smiling down at the heavy-lidded baby in his lap.

“Oh, no, he's not back to refusing to sleep, is he?” She sat down next to them.

“Not really,” said Don. “I mean, he's not fussing. He just keeps closing his eyes and then opening them up again, like he's afraid he's going to miss something.”

“Is that so?” Liz asked Charlie, bending over to look into his eyes. “What are you worried about missing, huh?”

He gurgled, and reached out a hand toward her hair. This time, though, she intercepted it with her own. “Not so fast, buster. I'm learning your tricks.” She kissed his tiny fist and then sat up again, still watching him watch her. “Why don't you go to sleep, sweetie?” He blinked.

“Speaking of sleep,” said Don, “Erin called while you were upstairs. She said Davis was arrested as he was leaving the urgent care place. He's in lockup right now. She said she'd be happy to be the main point of contact for the case and leave us out of it as much as possible, but since the land is in your name, the police will probably need to interview you at some point.”

Liz nodded. “Yeah. What an idiot.” She felt much less anger at the moment, sitting safely at home with her family near her and the interloper defeated. She leaned back against the couch. “You should probably know what his motivation was, since it affects you, too. Or maybe you can guess, if I tell you he was barely past his first transformation, and he was young, cocky, and convinced that I'd forgive him for trespassing if I just had the chance to see how amazing he was.”

Don's expression turned dark, and his jaw clenched. “I see. Well, I can guess at least that he probably didn't want to listen when you told him you weren't interested. And I bet his argument had something to with the fact that your husband isn't a dragon?”

“Yeah, and you know, I'm getting pretty tired of that attitude showing up no matter where we go,” Liz said. “He wanted to move on and rant about our children, but I didn't give him a chance.”

“He knows about Charlie?”

“No!” Liz winced, as their son's eyes snapped open again at her increased volume. But he didn't cry, or seem overly concerned. “Sorry, sweetheart.” She ran a hand over his cheek. “No, I don't think he has any idea that we have a kid already. He was just talking out of his ass about how I was depriving any potential children of the chance to be awesome like him.” Before Don could reply, she snorted. “Oh, and I should apologize to you, I guess, based on his enlightened ideas about husbands and wives.”

“Oh, yeah?” Don raised an eyebrow, anger warring with the anticipation of whatever cutting comment she was about to deliver.

“Yeah. Since you're a man, I'm informed I should be the good little girl and let you fight for me. So, I'm really sorry for stealing that fundamental right from you.”

Both of his eyebrows were raised, now, and he gave her a strange look before laughing shortly. “Even when I know you're not serious, it's like my brain can't comprehend those words when you say them.”

She rolled her eyes. “Imagine how I felt when I heard this guy say them, and he _was_ serious.”

He shook his head. “That's almost – _almost_ – enough for me to feel sorry for the little jerk. I mean, to have any delusion that you would go along with that? Not only must he not have ever met any female dragons before you, but probably not any females at all.”

Liz chuckled. “Now that is an astute observation.” She leaned her head on his shoulder.

“I'm still not sorry you kicked his ass, though,” said Don.

~~~~~~

She was sitting an uncomfortable plastic chair, in the front of several rows of spectators. There was a grave in front of her, with a coffin about to be lowered down. It wasn't her dad – was it? No, she knew that he had died many years ago. And, thank God, Tom was nowhere to be seen this time. Instead, Ressler was... Liz looked around. She couldn't see him, anywhere. Why wouldn't he be here? There was Red, a few seats away. Dembe wasn't with him, which was odd, but maybe he didn't feel like he needed his guard to be close.

The minister was reciting the usual words. Something about this was bad, Liz could feel. Something was very wrong. It wasn't just that this was a funeral, so of course it was solemn. She looked around again, in the sea of mourners. Was that Don, directly to her right? No, it wasn't. This man's face was almost right, but his hair was darker and he was too young. But she did know him. She was sure of that.

The man turned to look at her at that moment. He smiled, though it was a very sad smile, and took her hand gently, before turning back to listen to the sermon. No one else seemed confused. What the hell was happening? _Don?_ she tried to ask, very privately. _Don, where are you?_ When she couldn't find her husband's mental presence, her heart started to pound.

“And now, before we end our time here, I invite his wife, Elizabeth Keen Ressler, to come forward and deliver the eulogy.” The minister turned to her with an expectant look.

Liz froze. “What?” she gasped.

Red, who was somehow in his dragon form now without anyone else seeming to notice or care, turned to look at her, too. _Lizzie, I know this is hard._

“Mom,” said the man on her right, squeezing her hand, “they're waiting for you.”

Liz stared at him (Charlie?), ice flooding her veins. “No.” That meant... that meant the person in the coffin was... “No!”

Whispers and murmurs started in the rest of the crowd. Liz flung herself to her feet. Everyone else there suddenly looked as small as they would if she had been in her true form, though she was very aware that she was still her human self. Tears were pouring down her face, and she could feel a scream building deep inside her.

Suddenly, she was somewhere else, in the dark. And there were still tears on her face – and she was still alone. He wasn't there. Was it all true, then? “Don?” she whispered, her voice so choked that it was barely even audible to herself. Just as she was about to release the scream that was still trapped inside her, she heard a familiar sound from beyond the connecting door between their bedroom and the bathroom. When the door opened a second later and her husband walked through it, looking groggy, Liz couldn't hold back a sob.

“Liz?” In the dim pre-dawn light, Don frowned and took a few steps closer to the bed. “Liz, was that you? Are you okay?”

She sobbed again, unable to get out any words at all. He had been dead. It had been so real. The grief had been the realest part, and now she couldn't catch her breath. _You were gone,_ she said, and she was vaguely aware, as if outside of herself, that her mental voice was shrill and frantic.

“Sweetheart, did you have a bad dream? I'm right here,” said Don gently. He climbed into bed, and she immediately propelled herself at him and threw her arms around him.

 _You were gone!_ she repeated, continuing to sob without having much success actually inhaling. She was shivering, too, and she could feel goosebumps all over her. But he was real and solid in her arms, and his arms encircling her were warm and true, too.

“Liz, honey, you need to breathe,” said Don, and she could feel his voice resonating through her.

It took several seconds for her to understand the meaning of the syllables, however. She shook her head, which was all she could manage, and continued to gasp. _You were gone. I couldn't... I can't..._

“Breathe, Liz,” Don said, running a hand down her back. “Please. You're going to hurt yourself.”

But when she closed her eyes, she saw the coffin again, and felt the soul-crushing despair of realizing what it had meant. And even though she also was starting to realize that it had been a dream, it took no effort at all for her mind to jump to the dreadful certainty that parts of it were probably all too realistic, for what she could expect in the future. _No,_ she whimpered. _No, I can't. I can't._

“Yeah, you can,” Don said softly, assuming she was referring to her panicked breathing. He made to move away from her.

She clung tighter, despite the now agonizing pain in her chest. _No! Don't go!_

“Liz, I'm not going anywhere. I just want to give you space to breathe. That's all,” he said, and his own voice sounded a bit strained. “Okay?”

Again, it seemed to take her a while to actually comprehend what the words meant. But eventually she was able to force herself to relax her hold, just fractionally.

“Good. I'm just scooting back a little,” said her husband. “I'm still here. I've still got you.”

She didn't object, though her grip (now more on the front of his shoulders) stayed tight enough that her hands were beginning to protest. This would all still be moot, though, if she couldn't make herself breathe.

“Liz, you still have to breathe,” Don said, unconsciously echoing her thoughts.

Now dizzy from lack of oxygen, Liz tried her hardest to steady her breathing. It would do no good at all if she passed out. Don might even call for an ambulance, and that would wake Charlie. Doing her best to focus on inhaling and exhaling, Liz ignored everything else as much as possible. Finally, her gasps grew less desperate, and the pain in her lungs and chest began to ease.

“That's it, Liz,” said Don gently. “That's right.”

She was still shaking, even as her breaths became more regular. And though the images from the dream were fading, the emotions were as raw as when she had woken up. Liz allowed her iron grip to relax, but then collapsed into his chest and began to cry in earnest.

“Liz, you're freezing,” he told her, and tugged her over on top of him, lay all the way down, and pulled the blanket over her.

Even the sweetness of his actions hurt. She loved him so much. And someday, no matter how far in the future it might be, the chances were that much of her dream would come true. Of course, she had already known the facts of the matter. Don had, too – not that either of them wanted to talk about it. Or think about it. She shivered again. She didn't know whether it was the disparaging remarks that Rob Davis had made today that had caused this dream, but she did know that she wanted nothing more than to forget it and not have to think of anything related to it. Preferably ever.

~~~~~~

“Liz,” said her husband's voice. “Liz, Charlie's awake, and I think he needs you. Maybe both of us, but you've got to get up.”

She opened her eyes, noticing right away how swollen and sticky her eyelids felt. Then she realized that she was in the exact same position she'd been when she'd finally fallen asleep again, after the panic attack. And before that, the dream. She swallowed. “Okay.” Her voice was hoarse. She sat up and rolled off him, blinking and pushing her hair off her face. Now she could hear Charlie's cries from the next room. He had only been in his own room for a few weeks – though it was definitely a good move, if she was going to have nights of completely freaking out, like last night.

 _I'm coming, sweetie,_ she told him, and went to go get him. As she sat in the rocking chair and fed him, she pondered the image her mind had conjured of her son as an adult. She had always maintained that Charlie looked like his father, but her own subconscious had built that idea up in a way that was fairly amazing. “Is that what you're going to look like someday?” she murmured to him.

“How's he doing?” Don said, coming to stand in the doorway.

“He's good, now,” said Liz. “Aren't you supposed to be going in to work today?”

“I called and told them I'd be late.”

She looked away, pretending it was to check to see if Charlie need to switch sides yet. “Why?”

He scoffed lightly. “Don't get me wrong – I'm glad you're feeling better this morning, too. But we're not going to sweep last night under the rug, Liz. You haven't cried like that since – I don't know, maybe since after Connolly.”

Liz looked away steadily. “It was just a dream. I'm sorry I flipped out like that, but I'll be fine.”

“Liz, I felt a little of what you were feeling,” said Don. He cleared his throat. “When you said I was 'gone', you didn't just mean I was missing. And you kept feeling that the whole time, even after you knew you were awake.”

“Yeah,” said Liz, still not meeting his eyes. She took the time during which she switched Charlie to the other side to try to decide how much she could stand to tell her husband. When her son was settled and nursing again, she inhaled falteringly. “I was at your funeral. I guess you died of old age, or anyway it was far enough in the future that it could have been.” Her voice petered out before she finished speaking, but she assumed he had gotten the gist.

He was silent long enough that she had to look up. Don was staring at her, his own expression stricken. He cleared his throat again, but his voice was still rough and painful when he spoke. “Well, now I want to go kill that stupid little man-child of a dragon all over again, since I'm betting it was him who made you dream about that.”

The corner of her mouth twitched. “The thought had crossed my mind.”

“God, I'm sorry, Liz,” he said, still hoarse. Coming over to stand next to her, he said, “I know that's something neither of us wants to think about.”

She shook her head. “And I definitely don't want to talk about it anymore.” She could feel her chest tighten at even this much reliving of the dream.

“Okay,” he said. “That's okay.”

“Although there was one tiny part of the dream that wasn't awful,” said Liz, and she smiled down at Charlie. “And that was seeing Charlie as an adult. He looked a lot like you.”

Don reached down to stroke the side of their son's face. “Well, I still think he looks more like you.”

“I guess we'll see,” said Liz, finally meeting her husband's gaze.

“We will,” he agreed firmly.

She tilted her head up to kiss him, though the angle was awkward for both of them. When they broke apart, she told him, “I love you.”

He smiled. “I love you, too, Liz. Always.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place several months after the previous one.

~~  
Washington, D.C.

Her husband was distracted, bending down to show their son a few of the options available in the baby food aisle. Charlie was probably not all that interested in looking at the little bottles and packets, but he did enjoy the fact that his father's face was closer to him where he was facing forward in the carrier than usual. Liz heard him giggle, and saw him reach up to try to grab Don's chin. Don smiled and took Charlie's hand in his, kissing it before allowing him to continue grabbing at his face. Liz's heart swelled at the sight, as usual.

Just as she turned away, reluctantly, to see which of their favorite cereals might be on sale here, Liz's eye was caught by movement at the end of the aisle on the other side. She frowned. It couldn't be. There was no way... She glanced around, and noted the placement of the security cameras.

Making sure that Don was still occupied entertaining their son as well as buying food for him, Liz walked around to the other aisle. It was her. It was Colleen Kent, of all people. She was staring at Don and Charlie, so focused that she didn't notice Liz's approach. Not, that is, until Liz had pulled her around and shoved her against a shelf full of canned goods. “Colleen. I didn't expect to run into you ever again,” she said in a low hiss. She used one hand to check for a weapon while her other hand stayed at the woman's collar. Finding nothing, both hands moved to her throat. “But I certainly made plans for if I did.”

Colleen's eyes were wide, and she gasped in a breath. “Elizabeth... Please...”

“What are you doing, watching my family?” Liz demanded, still keeping her voice low enough that it wouldn't carry far. It was difficult, though, when she wanted to scream her rage. “Watching Don? Don't you know what happened to him because of you? Because I haven't forgotten. Not one moment.”

“Ma'am?”

Liz turned, her hands still around Colleen's throat. There was a store employee staring at the two of them, looking very nervous. “Everything's fine,” she said, almost not even noticing the use of her draconic power. “We're fine. You didn't see anything wrong here, and you need to leave.”

The young man's face went blank. He nodded vaguely, and turned around to go. Even when Colleen made a choked sound of protest, he didn't react.

As soon as he was out of the aisle, Liz returned her attention to the Kent woman. “I asked you a question.”

Colleen gulped, and Liz relaxed her grip just enough for her to breathe better. “I-- All I did was tell some people I thought would be interested that-- that you two were involved,” she panted. “I didn't mean for--”

“Oh, don't even try it,” said Liz sharply, but still trying to stay quiet. “You're not an idiot. You knew what you were doing. So tell me: do you have some kind of grudge against Don because of me and your father? Or maybe you're still disappointed that he never showed any interest in you at all?” At her flinch, Liz pressed in closer, triumph and even greater rage coursing through her. “I see. And now you can see that we have a baby. I really hope you weren't planning to share that information with any of our enemies, Colleen. Because that? Would be the worst idea you've ever had in your life, which is saying something.”

“Liz?” It was Don, two aisles over, no doubt wondering where she was. She heard Charlie babble happily, and then the sound of a hard plastic object hitting the floor. His latest favorite toy, probably.

Colleen must have seen her expression flicker, because the woman resumed pleading with her. “Please, you have to believe me,” she whimpered. “I-- I wouldn't do anything to hurt your child! I love kids. I've always wanted to have some. Of my own,” she added hastily, when Liz narrowed her eyes. “I didn't follow you here or anything. This is where I always go to shop for groceries, in my time off. I saw you all, and I was … curious. That's all, I swear!”

“Liz, I grabbed those whole wheat things you--” Don's voice died away in a gasp. Something clattered to the floor. “What the hell?!”

Liz looked away from her trapped quarry for a moment. Her husband was staring at them, thunderstruck, with both arms around Charlie protectively. He looked to have dropped their grocery basket. Charlie, for his part, was wriggling in his father's tighter-than-normal grip while he gazed at the brightly colored toy in his hands.

“Don,” said Colleen faintly.

“She was watching us,” Liz said, barely managing to keep herself from snarling for the sake of her baby. “You and Charlie in particular.”

She had already turned back to glare at Colleen, but she felt Don's anger as well as her own. Colleen repeated a few of her frantic excuses. “Just let me leave, please!” she finished. “I won't ever bother any of you again, I promise!”

“Uh uh,” Liz said. She shook her head. “We've learned our lesson there.”

“But what else can we do?” said Ressler through gritted teeth. As Charlie started to fuss just a little, he moved his hands so the six-month-old had a bit more freedom to move. But he hadn't taken his eyes off Colleen for more than seconds at a time. “We can't exactly have her arrested for showing up in the same store we're in.”

“No, that's not what I was thinking,” Liz replied. She released her hold on Colleen's neck, grabbed her shoulder, and then frowned. When she had started to make her plans for what she'd do to Colleen Kent if the opportunity ever arose, her son had not yet been in the picture. “Remember what we talked about, all that time ago? But we need to call Red first.”

“Why?” asked Don, sounding frustrated. “Does he really need to be involved in--?”

Liz cut him off. “To take Charlie, so we don't have to worry about him while we tie up this loose end.”

“Ah. Good idea.” Out of the corner of her eye, Liz saw him walk away a few steps and take out his phone to call Dembe. She could have contacted Red directly, but this was her husband's right.

Colleen had followed this conversation with wide eyes. But now she took a breath and looked at Liz resolutely. “I don't know what you're planning, but if you kill me, you _will_ start a war. And I'm the daughter of a dragon, and also have the same training in defensive tactics as your Don does. You can't just hypnotize me.”

“Yeah, I know all that,” said Liz. She gave her a cold smile. “That's why I have something else in mind for you. And it won't take too long, either – I don't want to waste time I could be spending with my family on you.”

Colleen did not look comforted by this, which was just fine since Liz didn't want her to.

A few seconds later, Don came back over. “He's on his way,” he reported. Then he paused, as Charlie started to fuss a little. “Are you going to be okay here if I try to finish up our shopping really quickly?” She could feel his reluctance to leave as well as his realization that this was the course of action that made the most sense.

“I'll be fine.” Liz glanced at her husband and her son for a moment, then back at the woman in front of her. “She won't get the drop on me.” _I promise_ , she added silently.

While Liz waited for Red to arrive, she kept her focus on her prisoner almost without interruption. A few times, another customer came down the aisle, but she gave each person who noticed the two of them a mental nudge to forget what they had seen and not come back while she and Colleen were there. Colleen herself, it seemed, didn't feel like it was worth the risk to try to escape – not when she was the sole object of Liz's attention.

It was only about three minutes later that Don returned with a full shopping basket and a now thoroughly upset Charlie. As soon as he saw his mother, Charlie started to cry and held out his arms to her. “I can take over watching her,” Don suggested. “Red should be here soon, anyway.”

“Yeah, that's fine.” Liz waited until Don had unstrapped Charlie from the sling and then went to him. She smiled down at her son and swung him into her arms. “Hi, my sweet boy. Did you have fun shopping with your daddy?”

Charlie's cries quieted, and he laid his head against her shoulder. Liz kissed his soft, dark blond curls, and then looked up to see that Colleen was staring at the two of them. She looked away as soon as Liz noticed her gaze, but Liz still barely restrained another snarl. “I'm going to wait over here,” she told Ressler, indicating the end of the aisle display that would put her just out of Colleen's field of vision. “Let me know if you need me to discourage any onlookers.”

“Will do.” He had taken up pretty much exactly the same position as she had been in, Liz saw, with a none-too-gentle grip on Colleen's collar. The look on his face was one of unconcealed hatred. “She's not going anywhere.”

Red and Dembe arrived a minute later, and didn't take long at all to find Liz and her family. “Hello, Donald,” he said, upon walking up the aisle where Don and Colleen were standing. “And Miss Kent. How nice to see you again – and how unfortunate for you.”

“You can't do this. You'll start a war,” Colleen said, sounding more than a little desperate.

“I don't think so, no,” replied Red mildly. Then, while Dembe took up a position next to Ressler, he continued down the aisle until he saw Liz and Charlie. “There you are!”

Charlie, who utterly adored his doting grandfather, let out a happy cry and reached for him. Liz couldn't help smiling. It was still endearing, how pleased Red was whenever Charlie was eager to go to him (which was almost always). She passed her baby into her father's waiting arms, stroking Charlie's soft cheek as she did so. “He just got fed before we left to shop, so he should be all right until we get back. This shouldn't take too long,” she told Red.

“Take as much time as you need, Lizzie,” was his predictable response. “Dembe and I will be happy to spend as long as you and Donald give us with our little charmer here.” He smiled as Charlie grabbed at his tie with little hands that were no doubt covered in drool. “And before you ask, yes, there will be extra protection around my current house while Charlie is with us.”

“Thank you.” Liz brushed a kiss over her father's cheek as well. Even with how much his organization and business enterprises had changed after their takedown of the Cabal, Red still had plenty of enemies. But Liz trusted that he would do everything in his still considerable power to keep his grandson safe.

“Call if you need anything,” said Red. “You know where to find us.”

“Okay. We will.” Liz handed Red her shoulder bag with the surprisingly large amount of supplies even a relatively short trip out of the house with a baby required. It wasn't garish colors or anything, but it still seemed incongruous to see her father carrying what was, essentially, a diaper bag. “Bye, Charlie. Be good for Grandpa and Uncle Dembe, okay?” Her little boy blinked at her, and then turned his attention back to Red's tie. She bit her lip. There hadn't been that many times in her son's life so far that she had been away from him. It was not an easy thing for her to do, but it had to be done. This situation with Colleen Kent needed to be resolved.

 _We'll be fine, Lizzie_ , said Red. _Go do what you have to do._

A few minutes later, Liz and Don were heading out the door of the store, groceries and Colleen in hand. They each had hold of one of her arms as they marched her out to their car. She had been warned that if she tried to escape or attract the attention of bystanders, things would go much worse for her. Once the groceries had been loaded into the car, Don took out his gun as inconspicuously as possible and held it on Colleen while Liz tied her hands behind her back. Then he ordered her into the car.

“Where are you taking me?” Colleen asked as she obeyed.

“Not too far,” said Liz. She met Don's gaze in the front seat, having already mentally gone over the options as they walked to the car. “I think we should go with the simplest plan. You know where we're heading?”

“I do,” he replied. “As long as you're sure you want to go with that option, rather than the law firm or calling Frankie.”

She had already decided, and from what she could tell, he had, too. Mentioning these other ideas they had considered was for Colleen's benefit. She certainly looked even more nervous, now. “Yeah, I'm sure. I'll call Stan so he'll be ready.”

They drove out of town, to the private airfield where Stan was waiting with the helicopter. Colleen's alarm grew. “Please,” she said desperately. “If you're taking me out of the country, that's-- that's going to make my father start a--”

“We won't start any war, so you can stop whining about that,” Liz cut her off, pulling her out of the car and staring directly into her face again. “You didn't start one with what you did, so neither will we. Much as part of me would be very willing to risk it.”

Stan greeted Liz and Don with a nod, and then his glance went to Colleen. “So I'm taking you all out to the border, and you'll take her the rest of the way, right?” he said.

“That's right,” Liz said. “We'll wait here until you're ready.”

The two of them waited, on either side of their prisoner, while the pilot started up the engine. Colleen was getting more and more tense, Liz could tell. This fact made Liz maybe happier than she should be.

She tried to make a break for it just as Stan let Liz know he was ready – but Don grabbed her again before she made it more than two yards away. Then he half marched, half dragged her to the chopper, with Liz beside them.

The helicopter trip wasn't long. Once they'd arrived at the edge of the national park, Stan set them down on the helipad. “I'll stay here until you get back,” he shouted over the headset.

“Thanks,” Liz shouted back. Then the three passengers jumped out.

As soon as they were far enough away to be able to speak at a more normal volume, Don said, “It's been forty-five minutes since we left. Just so we have a time frame, Liz.”

She nodded. “Anything you want to say to her before I take her?”

Don, with the same grim expression he'd worn since the initial shock had faded at the store, stepped closer. “Yeah, I want to say something.” He waited until Colleen met his eyes, and then said, “Look, I know you're supposed to do what your boss says – and he's your dad, so you have an added reason. But Liz and I never had to be your enemies. You and your father's people attacked me without provocation on the night of Liz's first official entrance into dragon society. I was tortured for almost an hour. Then later you used my relationship with Liz to facilitate another attack. And we'd _still_ never given you any real cause to view us as enemies. Liz could have been killed – and so could I.” His expression hardened. “So I don't feel bad about this. In fact, you're getting off easy.”

If it weren't for the events that Don had just referenced, and all she knew about this woman, Colleen's own expression at the end of this speech might have made Liz feel sorry for her. But all she had to do to quash that was to call to mind how Don had looked when she'd found him in that basement, and then how he had looked outside that house, bleeding and shivering. And then there was how she had been staring avidly at Charlie and Don not even an hour ago. No. She didn't warrant any pity.

Liz walked several yards away, and then transformed. There was no one else around; that was kind of the point of this place. She took a moment to enjoy the sensation of stretching her wings in the sun, and then sprang into the air. _Don't try to run, Colleen_ , she called down, _unless you want me to chase you. Because I will._

As soon as she had gained enough altitude, she asked her husband privately to step away from the prisoner. Colleen, for her part, seemed to have understood Liz's threat. She stayed put, staring up at the dragon circling above her. Still, Liz decided to warn her to stay still again one more time before she dove to seize her.

 _I'll be back soon,_ she told Don as she lifted off again. _I don't want to waste anymore time on this woman than necessary._ She felt his agreement.

Liz had only been to this place once before, back when she had lived in DC. She and Red had had their own hunting grounds in their territory, so they didn't need to take advantage of this park, which was available for the use of any dragon in the area. It was also strictly off-limits to anyone who wasn't a dragon. The penalties for any infraction varied depending on the circumstances. Liz was interested to see what they would be in Colleen's case.

“What is this place?” Colleen asked loudly, her voice shaking even apart from the wind rushing past her.

 _I guess your father must not have used it, or at least not told you about it if he has_ , Liz replied. _Speaking of David, I'll pass along a message to him myself, but you can tell him from me, too, whenever you finally next see him: if he has a problem with what I've done to you, he can take it up with me directly. If he thinks this is worthy of going to war, I'll be ready._

She heard the woman in her claws swear, and grinned a little.

A minute or so later, Liz saw a perfect spot to drop off her captive. She swooped down low enough that releasing her grip wouldn't actually injure the woman, and then opened her talons without warning. Colleen shrieked and hit the ground next to the little stream. Liz landed in the open area nearby and folded her wings. _All right_ , she said. _So here's what's going to happen: I'm going to leave you here. You have a water source, and I assume you were watching the ground below you while I flew you here, so you can probably find your way back out without too much trouble._

Colleen picked herself up and brushed off some dirt and leaves. She looked confused. “Yeah, I think I can.”

 _The only reason it matters how long it takes you to find your way out is because the longer you stay here, the more likely you are to attract the attention of some other dragon who wants to use this space_ , Liz said. _You see, Colleen, this whole park is set aside for dragons to use, and only dragons. And if we don't even like to share space with others of our kind, you can imagine how we tend to react when humans intrude into our set-aside spaces._

The woman's eyes widened. “But-- I didn't come here of my own free will! You brought me here!”

_Do you really think that will make much of a difference, even if they believe you?_

Colleen swallowed and clenched her fists. “Fine. I get the point.”

 _Then I'll leave you to it_ , said Liz. She spread her wings, and then lunged forward, pinning Colleen with her gaze as well as her talons. _But if you ever do anything to me or my family again, at the very least I will personally make sure that everything you do and have done to us is done to you._

Without waiting for a response, Liz released the woman and leaped into the air, leaving her behind. With any luck, she thought grimly, she would never have to see Colleen Kent again.

Don was watching her as she came in for a landing, she could see. As soon as she was no longer airborne, he came forward. “Ready to go?”

Liz thought of their son, and transformed quickly. He held out a hand. She took it and stood up. “Yeah. Let's get out of here.”

They didn't speak while they were in the chopper. But as soon as they were back at the car, Don said, “So do you think we're done with her now?”

Liz sighed and leaned against the seat. “I certainly hope so. I'm going to send a message directly to her dad – remind me about that if I forget, would you? But other than that, I'd prefer never to waste another second's thought on her.”

“It'll help when we're done with our trip and get back to Arizona,” said Don with a nod. “Because if she's stupid enough to try to follow us...”

She scoffed. “I'd say I'd like to see her try, but by this point I just hope she isn't that dumb.”

The closer they got to Red's current house, the more impatient Liz became to see Charlie. She hadn't anticipated being separated from him for any significant amount of time on this trip, but it was approaching three hours since she had put him in his grandfather's arms. Red hadn't called – she had checked her phone as soon as she got back to the car – so they were probably doing all right. Unless--

“Liz, I'm sure they're doing fine,” said her husband, smiling at her briefly from the driver's seat. “You know how much Charlie loves Red. And you know how careful Red is about keeping him safe.”

Liz sighed, and then smiled back. “Yeah. Yeah, I know.”

~


	5. Chapter 5

They had only been home from DC for a month. It had been great to visit Cooper and Aram while they were there, for the first time in years. The fact that Samar had been able to drop by for a real Post Office reunion had been the icing on the cake. And all three of them had gushed over Charlie and declared him perfectly adorable, which was only as it should be. 

Liz had just put Charlie down for his nap, switched on the baby monitor, and turned to leave the room when she thought she noticed something. She turned back to the crib and searched Charlie's tiny form. He was fine. He was asleep. She couldn't figure out what had caught her attention.

Then, when she came back to get him a couple of hours later, she had the same feeling. Again, she looked him over and saw nothing unusual. “Hey, sleepyhead. I bet you need a new diaper.” She picked him up and finished that task. It was as she was picking him up again to take him downstairs that she finally realized it.

She had just checked, automatic as it now was, to make sure he seemed fine, emotionally. And that was when she saw it: there was a sense, like something out of the corner of her eye – and it was the same kind of sense she got when meeting another dragon for the first time. “Oh,” she said quietly.

She looked at her son's face, and knew she'd be able to see – or detect – that fact easily from now on. “Charlie, sweetie, you've got a wild ride ahead of you.” She smiled at him. “Now we've got to go tell your dad.”

He made a humming sound as she carried him to where she'd put her phone. And then he reached for the shiny object once she had it in one hand. “No, no,” she told him, then handed him the large hair clip that had been resting on the counter next to her phone. “You can play with this. I get the phone.”

“Hey, Liz, is everything okay?” He sounded distracted.

“Yeah, yeah, everything's fine,” she said quickly. “I just, um, wanted to tell you as soon as I found out.”

“What did you find out?”

“I just saw it. Or... seeing isn't quite the right word. Anyway. Charlie's a dragon,” she said, doing her best not to babble.

Don was quiet for a moment, and Charlie took that opportunity to drop the clip and whine loudly about it. As Liz bent over and picked it up, managing it without dropping either her son or the phone, her husband finally spoke. “I'm guessing you're sure, or you wouldn't have called?”

“Yeah. Now that I've seen it, it's obvious,” she said. “Here, Charlie.” Phone pinned to her shoulder, she stood up and maneuvered the object back into reach of the baby with one hand. He took it happily.

“I'm glad you told me,” he said. “That's exciting.”

“It is,” she said. “A little terrifying, too.”

“Hey, you said it first,” said Don, but she heard the smile in his voice.

“Yes, I did,” she agreed. “And how I feel about that, for right now? Is that I'm really, really glad he's just going to grow up as a kid, without any dragon traits until much later. I mean, he's our kid, so his life is going to be weird enough as it is.”

He laughed ruefully. “Yeah. That would be a whole extra layer of weirdness, if he transformed earlier.”

“Anyway. I just wanted you to know.”

“Thanks,” he said. “Say 'hi' to Charlie for me. I love you both.”

“Love you, too.”

Charlie had begun trying to scoot himself around on his stomach just that week, though he hadn't succeeded yet. As she watched him on their living room floor, Liz tried to imagine what he would look like in dragon form. The idea that he had that energy, that vastness inside him even now was mind-boggling. He would have to be some color on the spectrum of reds, she guessed. Which one, though, was impossible to say. In some ways, she almost wished he would transform sooner rather than later. But all of the books and advice did say to savor each developmental stage, because she would miss them some day. And she was absolutely not going to let herself act in any way like she was only interested in interacting with him as a dragon. He was her son.

But that did remind her that there was someone else she needed to pass this news onto, as well. Still watching Charlie, she dialed Red's number. “Hi. Do you have a minute?”

“Lizzie! I'm actually about five minutes away, assuming you and Charlie are at home,” was Red's response.

“Oh, well, in that case, we can talk when you get here,” said Liz. She thought she might as well see if he saw before she even said anything. “Not that I'm not happy to see you, but is there any particular reason for this visit?”

“I have a delivery,” he said. “A gift for you, and for Charlie, too, if you feel like sharing.”

“Really? What is it?” There was no occasion that she could think of, but of course that didn't mean she would refuse a gift. Nor had it ever been unusual for Red to make his own occasions.

“You'll see,” he said.

When he arrived carrying a medium-sized box, Liz still had no idea what it was. He set it on the table. “Your trip to DC with Donald inspired me to think of this. It seemed a shame for it to be sitting in an evidence locker somewhere, gathering dust.”

Liz raised her eyebrows. “Evidence locker?” Then she handed Charlie off to her father and opened the top flaps of the box. Immediately, she felt a prickle of recognition as she saw the old wooden surface of the object inside. “Oh my God, is this – ?” And indeed, the melody that played when she found the slit and pulled open the lid brought tears to her eyes. “Red! You found the music box!”

Red smiled. “I had Harold's help getting it released.”

The memory of the first time Red had revealed this music box to her was still strong, even after all the years. She had been so devastated, so afraid – and still so unsure of Red's place in her life, and her place in his. And yet, when he had put his arms around her, even then, she had truly felt safe and loved. “Thank you,” she said, her voice wavering.

“You're welcome, my dear,” said Red.

Charlie made a sound of protest when Liz closed it. She laughed, wiping a tear from her face. “Do you like that, too, sweetie? Don't worry, I'll play it again in a second. I just want to take it out.” She suited actions to words and set it on the kitchen counter, setting it to play again. For a moment, she longed for Sam's presence with a fierce ache. He would have been a wonderful grandfather.

“What was it you wanted to talk to me about, Lizzie?” Red asked softly.

Before answering, Liz closed the music box again, and then went over to him and hugged him, careful not to squish Charlie. She sniffed, and pulled away after a moment. “I will definitely let Charlie share this, since he already likes it. But speaking of that, you've been holding your grandson for at least five minutes now. Have you noticed anything?”

Red frowned, and regarded Charlie closely. The boy in question had a few fingers in his mouth, and stared back at him, blue eyes wide but calm. “I can't say that I – oh.” Red's expression cleared. “Oh, Charlie, if you only knew what was in store for you.”

Liz laughed. “That's what I told him when I saw it.”

“I assume you passed the tidings on to Donald, too?”

She nodded. “Yep. He agreed with me that it's exciting, but we're glad we've got a few years before Charlie transforms.” She bit her lip for a moment. “I am glad, though. I think it will be pretty amazing to have that in common that with him.”

Red smiled again. “It is. That, I can promise you.”

~~~~~~

When Don got home from work that day, and took his usual time with Charlie so that Liz could have a short break, he tried to see if he could see anything different about his son in the wake of Liz's news that day. He knew it wasn't likely; he'd never been able to tell if an adult was a dragon or not by sight, either. But still, it seemed strange that such a significant fact about his son would be invisible to him.

Despite his searching glances, though, nothing seemed different about the little boy currently lying on his stomach on the floor, staring at a toy car in fascination. He looked and acted exactly like he had this morning, the last time Don had seen him. Don smiled and pushed the plastic car just a few inches closer. Still with that look of intense concentration, Charlie reached out and grabbed it, pulling it so that it was right in front of his face. Then, predictably, he brought it to his mouth.

“That's right, buddy,” Don said. “Go for it.”

As he continued to hang out with their kid, Don wondered what dragon traits of Liz's Charlie would have. He knew Charlie's coloration would not be exactly the same as Liz's, but that it would be very similar. He also tried not to worry that his own complete lack of dragon heritage would cause any problems for Charlie. If she ever heard him say anything like that, Liz would point out right away that she had been raised by a human, and that she had turned out just fine in those aspects, he knew. So he'd try his best to suck it up and just keep being a father to his son. After all, it was going to be quite a few years before Charlie would be able to transform.

~~~~~~~

A Few Weeks Later

Liz and Don hadn't discussed anything about his father any further after they had both admitted that they weren't excited about trying to bring him in as any kind of member of Liz's organization. They were both still overwhelmed enough with life as new parents. Liz was glad that Mark and Don had spoken by phone a few times since Charlie's birth. It seemed like their relationship was still strained, but they had been trying.

That wasn't enough to prevent them from being surprised – mostly unpleasantly – to drive up to their house late one afternoon after Liz had been hunting and see a rental car parked on the sidewalk, with Mark standing outside it. “What the hell?” said Don, as Erin turned into the driveway. “What is he doing here?”

“I don't know, but this isn't good. I look like some kind of psycho,” Liz said, craning her neck to glance in the rearview mirror. “I know I didn't get all the blood off.”

“No, you didn't,” Don confirmed grimly. “I mean, obviously it's better, but still. My dad may have just decided for us whether or not to bring him in.”

“Unless you wipe his memory, Liz,” Erin pointed out. She turned off the ignition. “Which of course I'm not suggesting lightly. It is an option, though.”

Liz looked at her husband. By now, it had to be obvious to Mark that the reason they were still in the car is that they were talking about him. “I will if you want me to, honey. All I'd have to make him forget is what I look like right now. Then I'd go take a shower and come back, and we could explain away anything else, if we want to.”

Don sighed. “I don't understand why he'd just show up without even calling.” He scrubbed his face with both hands, then met her eyes. “But if Charlie's going to have any kind of a relationship with him, my dad should know. Now's as good a time as any to tell him, if it's all right with you.”

Liz closed her eyes for a moment. She was too tired to want to deal with this at all, either way, but Don was right about Charlie. “Fine. We'll just go through to the back yard, I guess, and if anyone's close, I can make them not see.” She opened her door, Charlie still asleep in her arms, and stood. “Erin, would you mind sticking around?”

“No problem,” said the woman.

Don had gotten out, too, and he immediately went toward his dad. To his credit, when he asked, “Hey, Dad, what are you doing here?” it was in a friendly tone of voice.

“I know, I should have called,” said Mark. He shrugged apologetically. “I'm actually on my way to LA, but the plane I was on had some kind of mechanical problem and landed in Phoenix. They asked if anyone would volunteer to be rescheduled for a flight tomorrow, and I figured I might as well get the bonus miles and see my family. I was going to call, but then I realized my phone was dead.”

“Ah. How long have you been waiting?” Don asked. “Sorry we were out.”

“Don't worry about it. I can't complain if I didn't even give you a heads up,” he said, shaking his head. “Now, I see he's asleep, but can I say hello to Charlie, Liz?”

Taking a deep breath, Liz put on a smile and came closer from where she had been lingering a few yards away. “Of course. You can probably hold him if you want. He's not going to wake up easily.”

“Well, that's good,” said Mark, who had eyes only for his grandson as Liz carefully placed him her father-in-law's arms.

Don glanced at Liz for a second, raised his eyebrows in a quick shrug, and then suggested, “Let's head inside and we can talk about our plans for the evening.”

“Sounds good,” said Mark, and the four of them plus Charlie went inside.

“Oh, Mark, this is Erin. She's a friend of ours,” said Liz. “Erin, this is Mark, Don's father.”

“Hi,” said Erin. “I won't make you shake hands, since yours are occupied.”

Mark smiled in acknowledgement. “Nice to meet you.”

Liz yawned. “Um, I'm going to go take a shower, but I'll be back down in a few minutes. Make yourself at home. Do you have a bag? Our spare room is open for you, if you don't mind sharing a wall with Charlie.” Unless Mark noticed, she couldn't bring herself to point out what it was that made her need to shower at this time of day. Not that she was chickening out of telling him completely. Maybe it would be less awkward if she introduced it later.

“That's fine,” he said, waving a hand. “I remember the drill with crying babies. And I can get my bag later. Thanks for taking me in without an invitation.”

“Of course,” said Liz, and then started upstairs. _If he asks anything that – that's about what we're going to tell him, I'll be back,_ she told both Don and Erin.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you probably guessed, we conceived of this part before the show informed us any real details about Ressler's family. So it diverges from canon in that respect.

~~~~~~

But when Liz was clean and had changed clothes, she came back down to see that the other three were sitting in the living room. Don (or maybe Erin) had poured them all some iced tea, and they seemed relatively comfortable. “Hey. Is Charlie still asleep?”

“Yeah, he's out cold,” said Mark.

She wished she could do as she usually did, and nap while Charlie was asleep. Instead, she sat down on the couch next to Don, trying not to be nervous. “Good.” Then she took another deep breath. “Mark, there's something Don and I wanted to talk to you about. Since you're here, this is a good time.”

Mark looked up, eyebrows raised. “Is something wrong?”

“No, we're fine,” said Don. “There's just something you should know.”

“Okay,” said Mark, clearly puzzled.

“It's a little bit of a long story,” said Liz, “and a crazy one. But we trust you. And as Charlie's grandpa, you're part of the story now, too.”

Now he frowned. “This isn't some kind of illegal thing you're involving me in, is it? I thought you were done with all that, now that you have a child.”

Liz felt Don tense next to her, and she flushed. She supposed Mark's disapproving reference to her recent past could have been even more pointed. “No. It's not like that,” she said, before Don could reply. Then she lifted her chin. “It is something that I have in common with my father, though. And it's something that we keep secret.”

“And I need to know this?” Mark was still frowning, and his voice had risen just a little.

“Yes. Look,” said Liz, keeping her own voice even with effort. “It's easier if I just show you.” She stood, and proceeded to walk to the back door. “Please.”

Don had stood, as had Erin. Her husband looked down at his sleeping son before looking his father in the eye. “Dad. We wouldn't ask if it wasn't important. We want to trust you with this.”

Mark turned to Erin. “You already know this, whatever it is?”

She nodded. “And I do think it's important, for what it's worth.”

“Fine,” said Mark. “I don't even know what I'm agreeing to, but fine.”

Liz pulled open the sliding glass door and stepped outside. The air was still warm. She walked out far enough that she knew she would have enough space. _Make sure everyone stays back,_ she told Don, and watched as he put out a hand to keep his father from moving any closer. Then she checked and found no other minds within close range. “All right. This is... me.” And she changed.

Too late, it occurred to her that she perhaps should have asked Don to take Charlie before she completely freaked Mark out. He staggered, turning pale, and swore. “What the hell? No. No, this is...” He shook his head.

_It's not impossible,_ she said, and winced when he flinched again. Somehow Charlie was still asleep. _It is a secret, though, which is why you didn't know. Very few people know._

“But you did,” Mark said, staring at his son. “How long have you known?”

“Almost as long as I've known Liz,” he said. “Are you going to be all right?”

“How am I supposed to be all right?” was his retort. “Your wife is a... a _thing_ , that doesn't exist.”

“No. She's a person,” Don snapped.

Liz snorted. _And I definitely exist. So does your grandson._

“He's...?” Eyes wide, Mark stared down at the baby in his arms.

_He is,_ she confirmed. _He can't transform yet, but he is a dragon._

Mark shook his head again, then looked back at her. “And how are you talking to me right now?”

_Telepathy,_ said Liz. _It's a lot to take in, I know._

“I felt like I was going crazy, the first time I saw Liz in her dragon form,” said Don.

“Same with me, the first time I met a dragon,” Erin said.

_So did I,_ Liz added wryly. Then she stretched her wings out completely before becoming human again. “So, now you know.” She came closer. “You can't tell anyone, though. It's very important to keep the secret.”

Mark blinked. He hadn't stopped eyeing her warily. “Right. No one would believe me if I said anything, anyway.”

“Maybe not, but please, promise me that you won't tell anyone, ever,” Liz said.

“Why, what happens if I do?” He didn't sound like he actually meant to challenge her.

“There are dragons who are very, very serious about keeping our existence a secret,” Liz said, knowing that this would give him even more reason to mistrust her. “The kinds of things they could and would do to prevent it from getting out... I don't want that to happen to you.”

“What are you saying?” Mark narrowed his eyes. “If this is as dangerous as you're making it sound, why did you show me at all?”

Liz bit her lip. “Because you're family. We didn't want to keep lying to you, and we don't want Charlie to have to lie to you someday, either.”

Mark swallowed. He took a slow breath. “Don, you'd better take your son.” He handed the sleeping baby to Don, and then turned and went back inside, not shutting the door behind him.

“Dad, what are you doing?” Don called.

Liz put a hand on his shoulder. “Let him go.” In spite of the seriousness of the situation, she yawned. “We can't blame him for needing some time to adjust.”

He nodded. “Why don't you go take a nap, sweetheart? I know you need one.”

She really did. “Okay. It's a pretty anticlimactic way to end the afternoon, though.”

Don scoffed. “I guess so. I'll talk to my dad, see if I can get him kind of on the same page with the rest of us.”

“Just... remember that he's your dad, and he's actually doing pretty well for what we just put him through, okay?” Liz said.

“I thought he might fall over, when he first saw you,” said Don. “He remembered to hold onto Charlie, though.”

“Exactly,” said Liz. She yawned again.

“He also called you a 'thing',” Don pointed out. “So we do still have to talk.”

She grimaced. “Yeah. Well, I'll leave you to it. Erin, you're welcome to stay if you want, of course.” Without waiting for a response, she went back inside and somehow managed to walk all the way upstairs and to bed before she was out.

The sound of Charlie crying woke her up sometime later. _Don, is he okay?_ she asked, groggy, as she sat up to look at her phone. She'd been asleep for about two hours. It would be dinner time soon, not that she was likely to want anything except a light snack. Don informed her that Charlie was fine. She turned over, and then it came back to her that her father-in-law was now part of her organization (though he might not be aware of that yet). Which would have been awkward even if they'd had a good relationship to start with. _How's your dad?_ His response to that was less certain, but at least he didn't sound furious or despairing.

They had enough leftovers from the food Don had made last night for them to have again. Charlie enjoyed the mashed potatoes just as much the second time around, and got just as much of them into his lap and smeared in his hair as he had the previous evening, too. Liz had her hands full feeding him and trying to get a little bit of food, herself. It wasn't until he was done that she really had the chance to notice how Mark was reacting.

He had been fairly quiet throughout the meal, though he had spoken to Charlie and Don a few times. When she happened to meet his eyes now, he looked away almost immediately. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she was sure that he was afraid. Of her. He wasn't making it obvious, but she was very good at spotting that emotion in others.

Trying not to show what she had just discerned, Liz picked Charlie up and carried him to the kitchen to clean him off. Though she hadn't wanted to resort to using this fact to comfort herself, she muttered, “Just until tomorrow morning,” and did feel better – a little.

After dinner, they moved to the living room. Don left the room at one point. This meant that she and Mark sat in near silence, broken only by Charlie's occasional peaceful babbling. Then her father-in-law spoke. “So Don and I talked for a little while during your nap. But I guess I still have questions.”

“Okay,” said Liz, guarded. “Go ahead.”

“He said you're technically _part_ -dragon,” said Mark. “What does that mean?”

“Uh, well, my mother wasn't a dragon,” said Liz. “And even my father isn't a pureblood dragon, either.”

Mark nodded slowly. “And so Charlie is part-dragon, like you?”

“Yeah, he is,” said Liz. “But we – all of us – are basically physically just like humans except when we're transformed.”

“So you can't tell by looking whether someone is a dragon or not,” said Mark.

“Actually, other dragons can, but yes, that's essentially right,” said Liz.

“And how many other dragons are there?”

Liz shook her head. “In the world? I don't know. There aren't a lot of us, but I don't know a number.”

His was quiet again for a moment. “And Don also told me those of us who know about you have to be under some dragon's protection, or another dragon might mess with our heads.”

“That's true,” said Liz.

He swallowed. “So I'm under your protection now?”

She nodded. “I'm trying to stay out of dragon politics as much as possible, though, so hopefully all that should mean is that if some other dragon finds out you know about us, you tell him or her that you're part of my organization, and they'll leave you alone.”

“Your organization?” he repeated, staring. “Like the kind of _organization_ your father runs? Because I refuse to –”

“It can mean whatever the dragon wants it to mean,” Liz cut in firmly.

“Everything all right in here?” Don came back into the room just then, giving her a concerned glance.

“We're fine,” said Liz, with a tight smile. “Mark was just following up with a few things you and he talked about while I was sleeping.”

“Sorry, Liz, but I don't think we're 'fine',” said Mark. He set his jaw. “I guess you have to be part of her organization, too, then?” This was directed at Don.

Don frowned. “I'm second-in-command.”

Mark scoffed. “Is that how she got you to join up, then? Promised that you'd get to help run things? It didn't bother you that you were supposed to be upholding the law, while simultaneously joining some shadowy group involved in questionably legal activities?”

Liz held a little tighter to her son to prevent herself from lashing out in reaction. That wouldn't help here. Her voice was still strained when she said, “I asked him to be my partner. Like we've always been. And my organization has never sought to be involved in illegal activities.”

“Oh, well, that's much better then. He's your partner,” Mark repeated, disbelieving. He took a breath as if to speak again.

“Think for a second before you add anything to that,” said Don. He stood next to Liz and Charlie, and his expression was grim.

Mark raised his eyebrows, then huffed again. “Well, I'm not your partner, or your second-in-command. Are you going to give me orders now?”

Liz inhaled sharply. “No. The only thing I'm asking is that you –” Her voice died, and she cleared her throat. “Is that you be Charlie's grandpa. And part of that is knowing about dragons, and not telling anyone.”

Don put his hand on her shoulder lightly. “I'm not going to give commands, either, Dad. But I'll warn you that if you can't be a guest in our house without insulting my wife or making her cry, then you can leave. I told you before.”

Mark started to protest (what, Liz wasn't sure) at the same time she turned to Don to ask him not to make ultimatums on her behalf. But then Charlie joined in by beginning to whimper. He turned to her and buried his face in her chest. “Oh, sorry, sweetie. Let's go feed you,” she said, and her voice only shook slightly. Before either of the others could say anything, she scooped Charlie up and carried him to the base of the stairs, so there would be a wall or two between her and them for some privacy. She didn't want to go all the way upstairs, though.

Once she'd sat and got Charlie started nursing, Liz wiped one hand under her eyes and tried to get a hold of herself. She wasn't far enough away from them to really cry without them hearing. Plus, it would probably disturb her son.

She wasn't really far enough away that she couldn't hear them talking, either, she found out quickly. “I'm just thinking back to you telling me to give her a chance, right after Charlie was born. All that time, you knew she's not even human!”

“Liz is human.” Don's voice was furious. “In every way that matters.”

“Yeah, except the wings and claws,” was Mark's sarcastic rejoinder. “I still can't even believe I'm having this conversation with you! This is insane! Do all dragons get involved in lives of crime, then?”

“See, I'd like to sympathize with you, Dad. I really would. We could talk about how unbelievable this is – because it is unbelievable, even after all this time,” came Don's voice, still angry. “But you jumped right to criticizing me, and insulting Liz. And the thing is, Liz would probably just sit and take it, if she was in the room right now. This is a woman who's been shot, kidnapped, and left for dead since I've known her. The number of times she's had to fight to survive is more than I want to think about. But she refuses to fight you, even when you fight dirty.”

She sniffed, her throat closing at his sincerity. This was exactly the kind of scene she had dreaded. She absolutely hated to cause a rift between Don and his only living parent.

“Well, I'm sorry she went through those things,” said Mark, a little quieter.

“Uh huh. Maybe if you tried to remember that she's a person, this could be a nice family get-together instead of another trial for her to go through,” said Don.

There was a pause. Liz adjusted the cloth she had brought with her into position on her shoulder, then shifted Charlie there to burp him. He whimpered a faint protest. “Shhh, sweetie. Just a minute, and you can keep eating.”

“Don,” said Mark. “I don't want to be a trial for anybody. But even before this, I already knew your wife as the woman who dragged you out of your career and into –”

“Stop!” Don snapped. “We've been through this. I make my own decisions. I'm not some stupid, hormonal teenager deciding how to live my life based on who I want to sleep with. I chose to go with Liz because I love her, and I knew she was innocent. She didn't force me. She tried to tell me not to come, more than once.”

“Did she?” Mark asked, voice quiet but still skeptical. “I bet it would be easy for her to force you to do a lot of things. She wouldn't even have to use those claws or teeth – you were the one who told me dragons can get inside your head.”

Liz went numb from head to foot. This, then, was what he thought of her. She had sought to bring them closer, to let Mark be a part of this important facet of her life with Don. As a direct result, he had gone from mistrusting her and interacting with her in short, awkward periods at best to viewing her as a monster.

“You cannot possibly think that!” Don erupted, loud enough that Charlie turned toward the sound, eyes wide. She could hear the trembling in his voice, too. “What are you even doing under the same roof as her – as either of us? If she's some kind of literal witch, and I'm, what, too brainwashed to notice I'm here against my will? That I had a child with her even though I should have run away whenever I had enough moments of clarity to realize?”

Mark said something in response, but it wasn't in as loud of a voice as his son, and the blood was rushing in Liz's ears too loudly for her to hear. Dimly, she realized that her cheeks were covered in tears. She was simultaneously crushed as well as so incensed that it choked her.

_Lizzie! Are you all right? What happened?_

She jerked her head up. He was worried. Oh, God, he had felt her response to what Mark said. He probably thought she had been injured. Moving Charlie off her and covering herself up, Liz did her best to breathe. _I'm fine, Red. I'm not hurt. No one's hurt._

_You're not fine,_ was his response. _I'm glad you're not physically hurt, but something has happened._

_Mark came for a surprise visit,_ she said. _It's not going well._ She almost laughed at her own understatement. She still couldn't decide whether she should get up and go yell at her father-in-law for hurting Don, or flee into their bedroom with Charlie so she could cry in private. Both seemed necessary.

There was a pause. _Did you bring him in?_

_We thought – we thought it was the right thing to do,_ said Liz. _But now I don't think..._ She gulped. _I don't think we can get past this with him._

_I'm sorry to hear that,_ he told her.

_Yeah,_ she said. There was nothing to add.

_I'm nearby if there's any way I can help._

Liz stood up carefully. Charlie was fast asleep now, and she envied him his complete ignorance of the events that had occurred today. But she could at least take him upstairs to let him nap in peace, and maybe a little bit of that peace would rub off on her. _Thanks,_ she said to her father, turning to go upstairs. Probably, that was a forlorn hope.

She was at the top of the stairs when she realized that the raised voices from the living room seemed to have ended. It was probably for the best that neither of the two men saw that she had overheard most of their argument. Not that things could get much worse, she supposed. Still, she didn't want to be left out of whatever developments had happened after she'd stopped listening. _Don? I'm putting Charlie down for his nap now. What's going on with your dad?_

When she learned that he was leaving, she turned on Charlie's baby monitor and left the room quickly. _I need to talk to him before he goes._

Don didn't seem to think that was a great idea, but she insisted. So when she came downstairs, Mark was waiting by the front door. The look on his face was unreadable as he watched her approach.

“I won't make you stick around for long,” said Liz. “I know why you're leaving, and it's best that you do. But I want you to know that I would never choose to withhold access to Charlie just because you and I aren't friends.” She took a deep breath. “That said, until I'm convinced that you'll accept him for who he is, and who his parents are, I don't want to see you, or let him see you.”

He cleared his throat, but his response was still hoarse. “Don already said as much.” He didn't meet her eyes as he spoke, either.

Liz exchanged glances with her husband. He nodded. “Well, good. Now you know we're both serious. And maybe when you can believe he hasn't once stopped thinking for himself, you might be ready to think about what other false conclusions you jumped to.”

Mark clenched his jaw, but said nothing.

“Goodbye,” Don said tightly.

Giving his son a pained look, Mark opened his mouth for a second, then shook his head and left. He shut the door behind him. They were alone.

“Liz.” Don broke the silence eventually. “When you said – when you told my dad that I'd never once stopped thinking for myself... Did you hear what we were saying, after you left to feed Charlie?”

“Not all of it,” said Liz, staring at the ground, that mixture of rage and grief only slightly dimmed at this point. “But enough. I – God knows, I didn't want... I hate that it came to this. But if you hadn't made him leave, I would have.”

He made a strangled sound, like a scoff and a sob. “There was no fucking way he was going to stay in our house, after that. I know I can't say anything to make it better, but I'm so, so sorry that _anyone_ said anything like that about you, much less my own father.”

Liz breathed steadily, though she felt tears prick at her eyes again. “I know. Don, it's not your fault. And I know it's not my fault how he reacted, either, but I'm still going to tell you that I'm more sorry than I can say, that he's gone, that you had to listen to him dismiss you and your family like that, and that he left instead of trying to understand.” It still felt like she had driven him away. She knew it wasn't all about her, but at the same time, if it hadn't been for her, this would have never happened.

“Yeah,” said Don, and it sounded like he was close to tears, too. “Honey, I know you tried as hard as you could – harder than me, a lot of the time – to keep just this kind of thing from happening. Hell, I was the one who convinced you that now was the time to bring him in.” He raised a hand as she started to object. “And I get it, too, that we really would have had to tell him sometime. He just showed pretty clearly how he would have reacted, no matter what we did. Anyway. The point is, I can't and won't blame you for anything in this. Not at all.”

She nodded. It wasn't that she didn't believe him. It certainly wasn't that she wasn't profoundly grateful for Don's neverending, unshakable loyalty and trust, because she was and always would be. She just wished, desperately and hopelessly, that she didn't feel like she was always testing that faith.

She was about to try to come up with a way to convey those feelings when he broke in. “I'm going for a walk. Or maybe a run.”

“Don...” He looked drained, not at all like what he needed was to be by himself and working up a sweat. And it would be dark soon.

“Liz, just let me do this,” he said. “You get to go hunting when you feel like this. I'm not driving to a shooting range right now, and I don't want to inflict myself on you, either. So let me make do with what I have.”

She bit back her worries. “Okay. I'll be here.”

With a short nod, he turned and walked out the back door.

Liz stood frozen where she had been since his father had left. The house was silent. Charlie was asleep. And now there was nothing preventing the words that Mark Ressler had spoken from echoing in her head. She thought she could have learned to cope with him simply fearing her, much as that would have still been awful. Maybe in the time it would take before Charlie showed his dragon side, her father-in-law could have adjusted, and everything might have turned out all right.

Instead, he had taken it out on his son, too. He had declared their whole relationship nothing but manipulation and brainwashing on her part, and a colossal failure on Don's part to even try to escape. He preferred to think the worst of her and everything connected to her, even his own flesh and blood.

She wanted a drink – no, she wanted to be drunk. But she still couldn't have alcohol because of Charlie. And she'd already hunted today, and she wasn't hungry enough to go again, anyway, even if she wanted to call Erin back up and have her take charge of Charlie. She was stuck, and Don wasn't even with her.

She had to do something, though, or go completely crazy. Eventually, she got out the cleaning supplies and went to work on the bathrooms. It was easy to get behind on chores with a little person demanding all of her attention most of the time. The downstairs bathroom, which was the smaller one, was finished in no time with her complete focus on it. Well, not no time, it turned out, as she heard Charlie starting to fuss from the baby monitor just as she was starting to wring out the mop.

She didn't have the heart to leave him alone for long at all, so she set down the mop and washed her hands quickly. _I'm coming, sweetie. Mommy's coming._ Continuing her reassurances, she hurried up the stairs, barely making it without slipping.

When Don came in some time later, he found the two of them in the living room. Charlie was trying his hardest to move himself around on the floor, and Liz was watching, sitting with him next to the couch. “Hi,” she said, glancing up.

He was sweaty and looked exhausted. “Hey. How's everyone doing?”

Charlie looked up and shrieked a shrill greeting at the sound of his father's voice.

“Just what I was going to say,” Liz added softly.

Don chuckled. “Good to hear it. I'm going to go shower, and I'll be back.”

His father's egress caused Charlie to whine loudly and stretch his arms in Don's direction. “Charlie, he'll be back, honey,” said Liz.

“I'll be quick,” Don said, turning to smile at the baby. “Don't worry.”

He turned back, and then Liz gasped. “Look, Don! He did it! He's moving.”

Don quickly faced them again. He grinned as he watched their son scoot himself forward, still whining. “Hey, are you coming to get me?” He took a few steps toward him and then crouched down. “Come on!” Charlie pushed forward a few feet, then stopped and whimpered. “Yeah, all right.” Don swooped down and picked him up, standing. “I got you.”

“He'll be crawling before we know it,” said Liz. “Won't you, big boy?”

Charlie, who had stopped complaining, hummed. “I really will be right back,” said Don, kissing his head and then putting him back in front of his mother.

Liz was successful in distracting her son this time with one of his favorite toys (he was especially excited that he could propel himself to it when it was out of reach). And she was excited for him. He really was growing up.

Suddenly, she was crying. The emotions she had held in while Mark was still there had caught up with her. Maybe it was partly that Don would not be sharing the news of this milestone with his father. Whatever the reason, Charlie stopped trying to eat his stuffed dog's ear and stared at her in shock as she sobbed.

And she was still crying when Don came back downstairs, despite her best efforts. “Liz,” he said, alarmed.

_It's fine. I mean, nothing new happened,_ she said quickly. But that was about all she could manage. And when he sat next to her, she still willingly accepted his embrace and returned it.

“We're going to be okay,” Don told her.

Liz didn't respond. Part of her was ashamed for making him comfort her when it was his relationship with his father that was broken.

“The three of us, we'll be okay,” he repeated. “We did the right thing.”

Maybe he was trying to convince himself, too.


	7. Chapter 7

~~  
“He's here,” Dembe reported, from his position by the front window.

Red nodded. “Good.” He had been waiting in Mark Ressler's living room for nearly an hour, and although he was far from impatient, he was very ready to say what needed to be said to this man. No doubt Lizzie and Donald's revelation to him had been shocking and upsetting; of course it had, because when wasn't it? It wasn't as if Red himself didn't have experience with family members taking this news poorly. But although he hadn't heard exactly what had taken place after Mark had been brought in, Red knew or could guess enough to have formulated what Mark needed to be told now.

Red waited silently. He could hear the taxi drive away, and then the sound of footsteps as they got closer to the front door. It opened, and Mark came inside, pulling in his suitcase as well. The door shut and locked. Mark turned on the light in the entryway.

“Hello, Mark.”

The other man jumped, and his eyes widened. “What the hell-- How did you get in here?!”

“I've been enjoying the chance to look at some of your photos of Donald around the house, taken during his growing up years,” Red went on with a smile, as if Mark hadn't spoken. “It looks like he had a good childhood. Happy. You and your wife certainly raised a good man.”

Mark had stared at him open-mouthed throughout this whole statement. Then he narrowed his eyes and glared in an expression very much like one of his son's. “Get the hell out of my house before I call the police!” he demanded, although Red could hear the undercurrent of fear beneath the anger.

“I suggest you leave the police out of this – for now, at least,” said Red, as Dembe strode forward and held out his hand to the man.

Swallowing, Mark handed over his phone after a few seconds. Dembe pocketed it.

Red smiled again. “Good. How about you have a seat on that couch of yours? We need to talk.”

Mark sat down after another few seconds of stillness. He didn't speak.

“Now. I know that Elizabeth and Donald just shared a hugely important, bewildering piece of information with you,” Red began. “So you know what she is, and what I am – and what Charlie is.”

Mark nodded once. His eyes met Red's, and there was defiance there. “And then we argued, and they kicked me out. And then I guess she ran to get her father, the-- the _dragon_ who doesn't even pretend he's not a criminal, to come intimidate me. So does that mean you're going to … what? Screw with my mind? Kill me?”

“Mark,” Red said with a shake of his head, “first of all, whether we like each other or not, you're part of Elizabeth's family now. You're Charlie's only other living grandparent. That means your life will never be in danger from Elizabeth or me. Second of all, my daughter has no idea I'm here and would never ask me to do this. The fact that you automatically suspect her of such a thing proves how little you've bothered to get to know her. And finally, as much as I may be tempted to, as you put it, 'screw with' your mind, I'm not going to do that either. I said we needed to talk. That's what I meant.”

Donald's father didn't look like he totally believed him, but he sat back and said, “All right. Say what you came to say. It's not like I have any choice but to listen to you, anyway.”

Red was quiet for a moment. He glanced at Dembe, who was standing at the front window again, and then cleared his throat. “I had three other children before Lizzie. I lost them all. My first wife, too.”

Mark couldn't disguise his shock at this. His eyes widened again, and Red caught a flash of something like pity and sympathy in his thoughts. But he didn't interrupt, and Red went on.

“I would give absolutely anything, as I'm sure you understand, to be able to change my past – to be able to get them back, and have the years I should have had with them. But there is no way to do this. They're gone forever.” He paused, knowing Mark would have heard the lingering grief he had allowed to show, and then continued, “Even with Lizzie, though I'm thrilled to have this time with her and her family now, I still resent every year I was forced to be away from her in her childhood and as she grew into a young woman. That is also time I can never get back.”

Now Mark was obviously a little curious. Red didn't know how much he knew about the life of notorious criminal Raymond Reddington, but there weren't that many people who knew about the beginning of Lizzie's life. Red wasn't about to explain further to the man who had rejected her so thoroughly, either.

“I'm telling you all of this because I want you to think of Donald and Charlie, since it seems you won't consider Lizzie's feelings at all.” He let Mark see just a hint of his simmering rage at what Mark had made Lizzie feel, and the man gulped. Then he sighed. “Your son loves you. He wants to maintain a relationship with you. I know he almost lost you once before, when you were shot in the line of duty all those years ago, and it would kill him to lose you for real. And your grandson would grow up to love you, too, if he had the chance. There's only one person in the way of these things happening, and you know who it is.”

A spasm of grief passed over Mark's face, and he clenched his fists. Without prying, Red saw a glimpse in his thoughts of a woman he recognized from the Ressler family photos as Donald's mother, and then of Charlie, asleep in Mark's arms. Still, the man said nothing.

“Well. That's what I came to say,” said Red, standing up. He reached for his hat, which he had placed on the coffee table. Dembe followed him as they went toward the front door, and put Mark's phone down on the end table on the way. But before Red opened the front door, he turned back around. “I will add one final thing: Donald is my son-in-law, and I'm very fond of him, but surely you know him better than I do. You've been with him from his birth to the day he left home and started out as a young, naïve, idealistic FBI agent. Your exemplary law enforcement career was a massive influence in his own choice of work. So why you can't trust his judgment when you had such a strong hand in helping him form it is beyond me.”

“Because-- I don't know how much _you people_ could have changed it,” Mark said, evidently having found his voice at last.

Red shrugged. “It's true, that possibility exists. But again, don't you know your son? Couldn't you tell if something in his character had been fundamentally altered?”

“I--” Mark shut his mouth before finishing whatever he had been about to say. Red waited another few seconds, then left him alone with his thoughts. Perhaps he would make the right decision. Perhaps not. Ressler men were, after all, known to be stubborn to the point of pig-headed obstinacy in his experience. Still, Red knew Donald hadn't gotten all of his integrity from his mother. Time would tell.

~~  
December

Don was just closing the door of his son's room when his phone rang. Thankfully he had remembered to set it on vibrate this time, so Charlie didn't even flinch at the sound. With a sigh of relief at that, Don took several steps down the hall before he even looked to see who it was. The name lit up on his screen made him come to a stop in surprise. His dad. He hadn't heard from him in … well, not since the ultimatum he and Liz had delivered some months ago on that disastrous day. That had meant Thanksgiving and several important milestones that his father had missed.

Swallowing, Don shut his eyes for a moment, and then answered the call before it went to voicemail. “Dad,” he said. His voice was even and neutral, he hoped.

“Don,” came his dad's voice. There was a shaky breath over the line. “Hi. Uh, is this an okay time to talk?”

“Depends what you have to say,” he replied, trying not to give in to easily-remembered anger. “This isn't going to be a very long conversation if you're just going to repeat the kinds of things you said the last time we talked.”

Another breath. “No. No, that's … that's not how I want this to go.”

“Okay.” Don did his best not to get his hopes up as he walked into the living room and sat down. He wondered what he would be telling Liz when she got back from grocery shopping. “Then why are you calling?”

“I want--” His father cleared his throat. “I want to ask what you and … you and Elizabeth need me to do, so I can be part of Christmas with Charlie at your house this year.”

It was hard for Don to speak all of a sudden. He took a few moments, closing his eyes again and then opening them to look at the pictures on their mantel. They had none with his father in them – for a very different reason than for the absence of Red. “It wouldn't take much,” he said finally. “All we need is for you to tell us you're sorry, and show us you mean it. And by that I just mean, show us you really want to be in the same house as us – all of us.”

It was his dad's turn to pause. “I can do that,” he said. “I promise I can. I'm sorry for what I said. I can't promise I understand everything that you two told me last time yet, but … I'm trying.”

“That's all I want,” said Don thickly, around the lump in his throat. “That's all either of us want, Dad.”

“Okay. Okay, good.” His voice sounded suspiciously shaky as well. Then he changed the subject. “Is it all right if... Can I ask how Charlie is doing?”

He shut his eyes again, bringing to mind how this man had beamed when holding his grandson for the first time. “He's fine, Dad. He's doing really well. And I want to tell you a lot more, but I think we should still wait until you have a chance to apologize to Liz, too.”

To his relief, his dad didn't sound in the least bit angry about this. “Okay,” he said. “I understand. Is she there?”

“Not right now, but she should be back soon.” Don smiled. The heaviness that had been weighing him down for so long was starting to lift, and it felt good. He wanted more.

“All right. Uh, you or she can call me whenever. Just, um, keep in mind the time difference, okay?” He laughed lightly.

“We'll do that, Dad,” said Ressler.

He was still smiling as he ended the call a few seconds later. But after that, he sat where he was on the couch, hope warring with cynical worry, until he heard the sound of the front door unlocking. He stood up. He should help her with the groceries – but at the same time, he found it curiously hard to put down the phone.

Liz, even with her arms full, noticed right away. “What's wrong, honey?” She glanced at the object in his hand. “Did someone call while I was out?”

Don finally set it down on the coffee table. “Yeah,” he said. “But let's put this stuff away first. We have a lot to talk about.”

She raised her eyebrows at that but consented.

When she heard about his dad's call, her first reaction was close enough to tears that it confirmed his idea that ending the call and talking to her first was a good idea. She put her hand over her mouth and sank onto the couch, eyes wide. Don sat down next to her and waited for her to speak.

“So he … he really wants to apologize? To both of us?” She swallowed and rubbed her hands under her eyes.

“He sure seems to,” Don told her. “I said we'd call him back, so he can talk to us both.”

Liz gave him a shaky smile. “This is … this is such good news, Don.” She looked toward Charlie's bedroom. Then her expression crumpled, and she reached for his hand. Don held it tightly, trying not to lose control himself as she kept herself from crying. _I don't think I could take it if he … talks about our family like he did before_ , she told him as she took some ragged breaths.

“Yeah, I'm not going to offer him a lot more chances,” he said. The things his father had said and implied still burned in his memory, and when he thought about the fact that Liz had overheard many of them, it just made it a hundred times worse. “We can tell him that when we call.”

Liz nodded. Then she leaned her head against his shoulder. “We can wait until tomorrow, though, right?” she asked quietly.

“I don't have a problem with that.”

The call, when it happened the next day after lunch, went about as well as they could have hoped. His father started off by greeting Liz with no trace of suspicion or dislike in his voice. Then before Liz could do more than say that yes, she was doing well, and Charlie, too, he took a deep breath and said, “I told Don this yesterday, but I need to tell you as well, Elizabeth: I'm sorry for all the things I said, and all the things I implied, about you and your relationship with Don. I-- I still don't really understand how what you showed me and told me can be … true, but I know you both love your son.” He paused for a moment. “And even in the brief moments I've seen you and Don together, it's pretty clear that you love each other, too. A real love. When I think about it without letting other things get in the way, what I've seen of you two reminds me of what Don's mother and I had.”

Don had been watching his wife throughout this (the phone was on speaker and resting on the coffee table in front of them), and now he saw that she wasn't going to be able to reply. Not right away, anyway; she was too busy trying not to cry again. Don himself had to take a few seconds before he could speak. His parents had had their ups and downs during his life, like any other married couple, but he had never once doubted that they loved each other. It was an example he'd wanted to live up to. “You mean that,” he said, clearing his throat. “Don't you?”

“I do,” his dad said. “And Elizabeth, if you and Don give me the privilege of spending time with your family this Christmas, you can … you can check to be sure I'm not just saying what I know you want to hear.”

Liz took a breath. “I appreciate you giving me that permission,” she said, “but I-- I hope you can see what I mean when I say that I'd rather just interact with you, like family.”

“Thank you,” he said, after a pause of his own. “That, uh, that sounds good. Oh, and Elizabeth, I also need to add that I'm sorry for everything I've been saying and thinking about you being a bad influence on Don. I was … recently reminded that I've had the chance, the gift of watching my son grow up into the man he is today. And from what I've seen, if being with you has changed him, it's only for the better. I've always been proud of him, but now it's even clearer what a good man he is.”

Don wiped a hand under his eyes as Liz did the same. Not only was that downright effusive for his father, but he knew Liz still occasionally struggled to believe she wasn't somehow dragging him down. He cleared his throat and said, “Okay, now you're just trying to make everyone cry, aren't you?”

His dad laughed, and right then as if on cue, Charlie started to wail from his room. Laughing again, his dad spoke up louder to say, “Well, I didn't mean to make Charlie cry, that's for sure. I'll let you two go and see to him.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Don said, loud enough to be heard over Charlie's cries in the background. “We both really appreciate hearing this from you.”

“Yes, and we look forward to seeing you soon,” Liz added. She was already standing, ready to go to her child, but clearly didn't want to leave before the conversation was over.

“I'm really looking forward to it, too,” said Don's dad. With a smile audible in his voice, he went on, “Now, go see to my grandson.”

“Okay. Bye, Dad.”

The two of them were busy seeing to Charlie's needs for the next ten or fifteen minutes. It was only when Charlie had been changed and fed a little bit, and put back down in his crib to see if he might consent to nap for a while longer, that his parents had any time to discuss Mark Ressler's call.

“So,” Don said, as they sat down on the couch, “what do you think?”

“About what your dad said on the phone?” Liz rubbed a hand over her face, and then met his gaze. “I... I think he's sincere. It really seemed like it to me, anyway.”

He could tell she was waiting for him to weigh in, as the one who knew the man better. “I agree,” he told her, and saw the relief in her eyes. “And I don't know what it was that changed his mind, but whatever happened, I'm glad.” Somehow, his voice was almost inaudible by the end of that sentence. This was what he had wanted ever since Charlie was born, and he knew Liz had, too: all the members of their family doing their best to treat each other like people who really cared about each other. They'd already had that with Red, and with Dembe, Samar, Aram, and Cooper. But now his father was definitely part of this circle, as well.

Liz smiled and took his hand. “Me, too.”


End file.
